Everything's Constantly Changing
by CIAgent Writer
Summary: Allison Williams has to face the facts-she's a mutant. Now she's leaving behind everything that she's been calling home for most of her life to move into a safehouse for mutant teens. Will Xavier and his X-Men be able to help her sort life out? 24 up!
1. The Tough Girl Of Central High

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

~"Inner Voices"~

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

SPANKY (Until she gets a code name, which I've already got, this'll be her point of view title)

I pulled into the long drive of the Frederick farm and waved to Missy as she jumped outta the cab. She grabbed her gear from the bed and slung it over her shoulder as she walked back behind the barn. ~_She's not going to give up until she gets that pitching down. She's gonna throw out her shoulder.~_ I shook my head and was about to back out when a blonde haired, blue-eyed boy appeared in my driver's side window. I admired his tough, broad shouldered appearance and rugged good looks. ~_If he wasn't my best friend, I'd think he was hot. Woah, did I just think what I thought I did?~ _ "God, Mark, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, Spank. Hey how'd she do?"

"Ehh…okay. Only one fit today."

"Well, that's better then yesterday's practice." I nodded. Missy had a tendency to throw a hissy fit every time her aim went bad when she tried speeding up. As catcher, I got the brunt of the attacks but I'd learned to brush 'em off. ~_Comes with the territory.~_ We heard what sounded like rapid fire gun shots but we both shrugged it off knowing that it was only Missy beaming the side of the metal barn with softballs. 

"She's been doing that ever since she saw you hit the button to start the milking machine with a throw."

"It's a lot different tossing down to second overhand then it is to try and pitch underhand at sixty miles per hour. How's Bessy?" He smiled at the mention of his personal favorite cow. He'd raised the cow since it was a calf and had showed her several times at local farm shows and county fairs.

"Great. Due in about a week. Guess I'll just have to start that process all over." There was no resentment in his voice, but rather pure ecstasy. I smiled inwardly at his naive farm boy ways. ~_All that pride in one little, well, not so little cow.~_ "You okay?"

"Yeah of course. Why'd you ask?"

"Well, Missy told me 'bout your fainting spell and you look a little pale. The whole dehydration thing has got me worried, that's all."

"Look the doctors can't find anything wrong, so I doubt it's anything more than just the heat. Besides it's like an extra fifty degrees wearing all that padding. And did you forget I'm over half Irish. Pale is what I am." He frowned not believing me but changed the subject quickly.

"Big game Monday, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. It's Northern Bedford. Think you'll make it?"

"Yeah, if my dad doesn't insist I milk the cows or something."

"God, we've been rivals with 'em since our parents were in school. Think it'll ever end?"

"Nah…it's too much fun creaming in football season." He smirked remembering the two suffering defeats we'd handed them during regular season and playoffs. "Thanks to our super kicker though." The corner of my mouth twitched up into a grin. Mark had talked me into trying out for football last year, and I'd made it as kicker. Surprising nearly everyone in our school, I'd taken just as many blows as the rest and had probably complained less. 

"I'm not that great."

"Yeah right! When we won states, you were this close to making national news for being the only female state champion." He held up two fingers barely an inch apart to make his point. "If it wasn't for that whole Jacko Wacko thing you'd have been on CNN.

"I doubt that very much."

"You're too modest. Coach Chonko got a call from them asking for game footage of this all-star chick."

"I doubt they put it into those words."

"Like I said you're too modest."

"I'm just another one of the guys, and you know it."

He snorted in disagreement. "Yeah, just one of the guys who happens to have their own personal padding and can switch to running back at the last minute in the middle of the state championship." I gritted my teeth at the sexist remark and did my best to contain my anger and forgive him since he did compliment me as well. ~_He just knows how to boil my blood.~_

"Ready for boot camp?"

"You make it sound like Albright and Chonko are meaner then heck. Summer practices are cake walks and you know it."

"Yeah, it's always fun watching you show up half the team at the bench press."

"You're exaggerating. I can only bench one-seventy."

"Pretty impressive for a girl." I punched him in the shoulder but he just laughed. "Hey you got plans for Saturday?"

"Don't know. I might be working."

"You've got to much on your plate. Take a break."

"I'll do that if I don't have work, goof. Give me a minute and let me call for my schedule. That'll save me a trip into the city." I leaned over and dug in my glove compartment but came up empty in my search for my cell. "I think it's in my equipment bag. You mind?"

"Nope." He leaned into the bed of my truck and started rummaging through my catching equipment. "Hey, you remember were you stashed it in here?"

"I probably put it in a batting glove so it didn't roll around."

"Yep, here it is." He flicked it at me and smiled when I caught it easily in my left hand. I punched in speed dial and waited for the phone to ring twice.

* Hello, Garners. How may I help you? *

* Hey Ash hole. Can you give me my schedule? *

* Sure thing, Al. Okay…you're Friday night, Saturday morning, Sunday, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday evening. *

* Thanks. *

* You got some kinda date you wanna tell me about? *

* No. Ashley, get your mind outta the gutter. *

* Ten bucks, Mark finally asked you out. *

* Way off…hanging up now. *

* Wait a min… * I turned off the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat.

"I gotta work that morning, but I got the night off."

"Then I'll pick you up at six."

"Or I'll meet you there at seven. Give a girl some time to shower."

"Come on, you'll be fine. You look fine now and you've been sweating it out for the past four hours. I think you'll be okay after dipping ice cream for six." I scowled at him. I was a wreck—helmet hair, bruising on my shoulder from where someone hit me with a bat, and I was dressed in a t-shirt that had the sleeves cut out and a pair of tearaways.

"I look like shit, and you know it."

"Naw…image of beauty."

"I'm leaving now. So if you don't want me to run over those precious toes of yours, I'd back up."

"See you Saturday night!" I rolled my eyes as I backed outta the drive and sped off to get a quick shower at home and then hang at Kelly's for our girl's night in.

* * *

"So what took you so long to get here?"

"Mark held me up when I dropped of Missy."

"Ooo." I looked at her as I plopped down into a beanbag chair in the middle of her gram's living room. She'd just moved in with her last year after having a falling out with her mom when she wanted to marry this asshole of a jerk. The guy had abused Kelly and everything but her mom stuck with him.

"You're worse than Ashley! Get your mind outta the gutter now, or I'll remove it for you!" She smiled as she popped in a movie—'Two Weeks Notice'. The only way she'd talked me into it was by telling me that there was a scene where Mike Piazza jumped into the lead's lap. "How's Nate?"

"Good. You know, the usual. I think he's getting used to me saying 'no' now. God, he used to be all over me all the time and it made me way to self-conscious." 

"Well, at least guys notice you. Somehow I just blend right in."

"You've made it that way! Tell me once when you've ever dressed up and tried to look slightly feminine."

"Prom."

"Other than that. Like just an ordinary day."

"The guys on the football team dared me to wear a dress and walk into the guys locker room for the opposing team that way and insist that that was were I was going to change."

"You're hopeless. And Mark notices you…he really notices you."

"No he doesn't he likes to tease me, and we're best friends. Just like you and me."

"Uh huh. But he wants to see that change. Besides, boyfriends can still be your best friend."

"Yeah until you break up. I'm not going to toss away my friendship like that."

"Paranoid."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Not."

"Too."

"Hah! You admit it!"

"No fair, you used the oldest trick in the book."

"And for going to be our valedictorian next year, you fell for it."

"Shut up." She smirked as she handed me the bowl of popcorn. "Can't."

"Why not?"

"Camp starts in three weeks. You know that."

"That and you wanna look good for Mark on your date Saturday." I tossed a pillow at her head and connected with a satisfying *smack.

* * *

"Puh-lease, mother. I'm not getting all dressed up to go meet Mark at the movies." My mom was standing in the doorway to my room and refusing to let me out unless I changed into something other than last year's summer league t-shirt.

"I'm not letting you go on a date looking like that."

"It's not a date Mom. He's not picking me up, he's not paying, and we're splitting right afterwards."

"Uh huh, and I was born yesterday."

"Then I'm definitely too young to date." She sighed realizing defeat as I stuffed some cash into my pocket and headed out. ~_Wonder if that's a sigh of defeat or the fact that I refuse to carry a purse?~ _I grabbed the keys to my Chevy and smiled as I cranked up the tunes on the radio. I drove down off the huge hill we now lived on courtesy of our landlord. It was a nice place, if you liked your space. I hated it. It was too quiet, well almost. It was right next to a major highway so the traffic noise made things a little less lonely.

"I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I, I wanna talk about number one, old my me my, What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see, How I like talkin' bout you you you you usually, But occasionally, I wanna talk about me!" I sang along, my spirits slowly rising back up to a blissful joy. Toby Keith just had a way of lifting my spirits when I was down. The same way Evanescence made me realize that life wasn't really all that bad. I was one of those nutty people that liked angst, punk, rock, pop, country, Latin, anything you could throw at me. I was a music appreciator. 

I parked my truck towards the edge of the parking lot outside the cinema. ~_I'm not letting anyone dent you, not after the arm and a leg I paid for you.~_ I shoved my hands into my pockets wishing they'd stop sweating for once. Everyone always thought I was some kind of nervous wreck, but it was just something that happened—all the time. I bought my ticket and went in and bought a diet Pepsi. ~_God, I hate this stuff…but it's all diet until basketball then I go back to semi-normal.~_

"Hey Spank!" I turned around to see Mark balancing an enormous thing of popcorn and a Pepsi that looked like it would have drained the soda fountain dry. ~_Lucky bum…he's a linebacker so he gets to eat like there's no tomorrow.~_

"I see you're already trying to bulk up."

"Sure thing." We walked side by side into the theatre and took our usual back row. From there we could point and laugh at all the disgusting couples who used the place as a make out spot. I propped my feet up on the back of the seat in front of me grateful it wasn't a packed house.

Half way through the movie, I felt his arm go along the back of my seat and I turned to look at him surprised. He wasn't looking anywhere but at the movie screen so I let it go as a stretch. That was my first mistake. He then moved it down to my shoulder, which caused me to glance his way again. There was still no reaction on his face but I decided to make a break for it. "I gotta use the bathroom."

"You feel the need to announce that?" I glared at him and stood up and walked out. ~_Okay, what just happened here?~_ I couldn't shake what Ashley, Kelly, and my mom had all told me—that weirdo word, 'date'. ~_Naw, can't be. Not Mark, we're buddies, pals, bestest of friends. Definitely nothing more than that last time I checked. Besides that would be wrong for football players to be dating each other. They're supposed to date cheerleaders. Well, last time I checked our school didn't have guy cheerleaders. Maybe that's my problem.~_ After a few minutes of wandering the hall of the theatre an usher came over to me.

"Are you lost, Miss?"

"What! No, I'm trying to think something through."

"Well, I think your boyfriend's looking for you." He pointed behind me where I saw Mark leaving the theatre in search of me.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"You came with him didn't you?"

"No, I met him here. We're just friends. Why can't the rest of the world understand that guys and girls can be 'just friends'!

"I didn't mean anything by it." I grunted and turned around to face Mark.

"Hey, there you are."

"Yeah, here I am."

"If you didn't like the movie why didn't you just say something?"

"It's not that."

"Umm…okay. You wanna tell me what then?" I sighed seeing no easy way around this.

"I just want us to stay friends okay?"

"Sure…friends." He didn't sound so certain and his smile fell instantly. I groaned inwardly wondering why God had given such a tough football player such weak self-esteem.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression…"

"No, I just took it all wrong. We're always gonna be friends."

"Best of friends. Don't forget the best." He gave me a weak smile as I threw an arm over his shoulder. "Come on you big lug. Let's fatten you up some more. Burgers on me."

* * *

* Well, how'd it go? *

* How'd what go? *

* Duh, your date with Mark. *

* Couldn't tell you if I wanted to. *

* He kissed you! I knew it…I just knew he would. *

* Get your head outta the gossip, Kel. Nothing happened, except for me setting things straight with him. *

* You're such a killjoy. *

* Hmm…maybe that's why I'm captain and you're not. *

* Yeah, well, everybody likes me. I'm the fun one outta the two of us. *

* But I'm the one who sees that work gets done. *

* Like, I said, a killjoy. *

* You know if I wanted this kind of harassment, I'd have talked to my mom. * There was dead silence on the other end. ~_Bad move, girl. Gotta learn to stay off the mother topic. She's learned to do the same for you when it comes to fathers, but then she doesn't like that topic either since her dad died of that brain tumor.~_ * She's such a pain in the ass. Be grateful you're living with your gram. Grams like to spoil. *

* Uh huh. *

* Hey, you coming to see me tomorrow night at work? I'll make you the best banana spit for two. *

* On the house? *

* Sure, when the boss is away, the employees will play. *

* You're the best. *

* Don't I know it. *

* * *

****

WHITE QUEEN

"I've picked up on a new mutant signature."

"Where at Charles?"

"A rural community in central Pennsylvania. I'd like you to take Kurt and Logan with you to talk to her. Let her know that there's help if she wants it."

"What exactly are her powers?"

"It seems that she's able to manipulate water, which is quite a power considering the earth consists of seventy-five percent of it. She is also able to take the form of water or as water vapor."

"I'll see what we can do."

"Her name is Allison Williams. She's sixteen and will be a senior this year. Also very athletic so she may try and put up a fight. She is raised by her single mother, Carol Steele, who's highly cynical. She may not be willing to work with us.

"I'll keep that in mind. Don't worry, we'll find her before someone else does."

"I'm mostly worried about Mystique. She's actively recruiting for the Brotherhood now that she's back." I frowned at Charles' worried expression. He hadn't been sleeping much since Rogue's departure and the fact that Mystique was running the circus known as the Brotherhood again didn't help matters.

"She'll be fine. Both of Rogue and this Allison girl…they'll both be fine." He didn't move as I left him in Cerebro to find Logan and schedule a flight to Pennsylvania for the next morning. ~_So much for not working on a Sunday.~_


	2. Reaching A Melting And Boiling Point

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

~"Inner Voices"~

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

SPANKY 

~_Come on, just try and plow through me!~_ I stood in front of home plate defensively just waiting to tag out the opposing team's runner. The runner leaned back into a slide but I was ready and swept my glove low tagging her out. 

In the next instant I was on my back seeing stars. "Spanky!" I felt like my whole body had just gone numb--I was paralyzed and couldn't move my head to look around at what was happening. ~_Oh no! I'm to young…Softball's just beginning…I was going to be a senior this year.~_ I couldn't understand what had just happened. I'd been through hundreds of plays just like this one in just my varsity career. There was no way one little knock could make me feel like this. 

I saw coach Schneider hovering over me and my best friend Kelly, our third baseman, stood over his shoulder looking downright scared. "Kelly get some water, it could just be dehydration." ~_I've been getting dehydrated a lot lately. Must be this heat wave.~ _She disappeared and returned a moment later. I felt a splash of coolness yet there was nothing wet about it.

Someone tugged me up by my arm and someone steadied me as I swayed dizzily on my feet. "Spank, don't do that to us! Why didn't you tell us that seven innings was pushing it in this heat?"

I looked at Kelly trying to sort out what had happened. "It wasn't. Felt fine…never better."

"I want you to sit out the rest of the game. Sit down, get a drink, and cool off." I'd never hated Coach so much before.

"But I'm fine!"

"Look take a walk and cool off. I'm not having a bad attitude on my bench." He tossed me a water bottle then went back to reorganizing the line up. "Miranda you're in, get the equipment on." I slammed the catcher's helmet down on the ground grinding my teeth as it bounced back up and clashed against the fence. I tossed the chest pad down next to it and stormed off slamming a visor onto my head backwards. 

"Spank?"

"What?!?!" I whipped around to find an extremely flustered Mark standing behind me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," I growled. "Now leave me alone." I started to walk away again but he caught up to me and grabbed my hand. He was strong and not without reason. You don't tote hay and feed without getting some muscles.

"Come on, stop this before you hurt yourself."

"I told you I'm fine." He didn't let go of me but rather pulled me closer so that I couldn't not look him in the eye. "Let me go, Mark."

"No way. Not until you calm down." I sighed and lost the tenseness hoping that this ploy would convince him release me. My hands were sweating like crazy inside the batting gloves even though I'd cut out all the fingers to air them out at the beginning of the season. "I care about you way too much to watch you go into a self-destruct mode."

"Great, now I'm suicidal."

"I didn't say that."

"You might as well have." He frowned in confusion, unsure of what else to say.

"Look cool off, and I'll meet you out by your truck at the end of the game." He leaned over and placed a quick peck on my forehead that left me more startled then when he'd stopped me dead in my tracks earlier by grabbing my hand. He said nothing else but left me standing there. By the way he walked off with his hands in his pockets I could tell he was unsure of himself. ~_What just happened? What was that? Who's he and what have they done to my best friend Mark?~_

I crossed the street next to the field and started walking along the railroad tracks. I looked out and saw the house that I used to live in and gnashed my teeth together when I saw that the people who'd moved in had taken down my basketball hoop. ~_Couldn't take it with us because it would leave a big gaping hole in the ground, but it's okay for them to take it out.~_ The sound of the shin guards click-clacking against each other marked my pace as I headed farther away from the field.

"Troubles dear?" I looked up surprised to hear another person's voice when I'd thought I was alone. A blonde woman stood before me in the middle of the tracks wearing a three-piece white dress suit. I snorted as I walked past her balancing on the rails. ~_She doesn't belong here, not in this hick town where just about everyone is related and knows everyone else's business. Then again, neither do I. God what I wouldn't give to move back to the city.~_ "I know about you, Allison, how you're different, special."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do." I wiped the sweat off my forehead only to watch it be absorbed into the back of my hand. "The constant dehydration, waking up in a cold sweat, feel like you're in a constant heat wave. You know it's only seventy-five today."

I glared at her. ~_Coulda fooled me, feels like a hundred out here. Then again these uniforms aren't exactly made of silk.~_ "What would you know about all that?"

"When I was your age, I was just as scared and confused. But there are people who can help you, who want to help you if you'll let them."

"I don't need help! I've got my mom and my friends. I don't need a freak like you." Before I realized what I was doing, I had the sensation of melting. Several minutes later I pulled myself together to find myself sitting on the pitcher's mound of the baseball field--on the other side of the campus. ~_How'd I get here? Maybe she's right, maybe I am a mutant. But what does that have to do with my dehydration problem?~_

"Hello zere." I spun around to see a boy behind me standing near second base. He was kind of short and had bluish hair that seemed odd. His accent is what threw me through a loop though.

"Are you one of the foreign exchanges?" He shook his head. "Then I think you're extremely lost."

"No, I came to see ja." I jumped to my feet and put my fists up in a fighting stance. He laughed a little. "Don't vorry, I von't hurt ja." He tapped his watch and I gasped as he turned blue and grew a tail.

"You…you're one of those freaks! Just leave me alone, all of you!" I turned and ran towards the dugout. I jumped down in and choked on sulfur fumes.

"I'm a mutant, and so are ja."

"No! That's not possible." I felt the tears squeezing out of the corners of my eyes as I pushed him hard so that he tripped over the bench falling onto his back and I ran up the stairs and back out of the dugout. I took off behind the field and ran through one of the cornfields that surrounded the school campus. 

I ignored the pain that shot through my ankle every time I tripped over a mound of dirt or a piece of rock. I saw the Frederick farm up ahead and easily jumped the fence into the grazing field for their milking cows. I risked a glance behind me to see if the blue boy was following. I figured the woman in white wouldn't due to the fact that high heels don' t mix with a freshly manured field. I smiled figuring that woman was probably in a real lurch trying to figure out what to do in a town that constantly smelled like shit.

I ducked inside the barn hoping to find Mark. Even his dopey older brother Paul would have been a blessing. No one was there, at least nobody except the few horses that they kept for Missy's riding obsession. ~_Duh, he's probably still at the game watching Missy.~ _I heard someone curse from outside the barn and jumped a gate into the nearest stall. "Shh…not now." I patted the horse's neck hoping to calm him down but he continued to stamp his feet. ~_Damn. Can't get down or I risk the spooked horse trampling me, stay standing and I'm bound to be spotted.~_

*Snikt. My eyes went wide with fear. ~_Somehow, I know that's not a good sound.~_ I crouched down and cursed my luck as the snaps on my shin guards clicked. ~_Damn, why didn't I take these off before?~_ "All right kid, show yourself." I took a deep breath and prepared myself to kick this guy in the groin and start running again. ~_Always make 'em SING--stomach, eyes, nose, groin.~_ I smiled to myself as I jumped back over the gate planting a cleat in this guys face. He caught my other foot causing me to land on my back on the hay-strewn ground. "Bad move kid. Gotta figure out your opponent before you attack."

"Thanks for the tip old-timer." I swung my leg around connecting the hard plastic of my shin guard with his own shin causing him to only wince. ~_Okay, what just happened? He's supposed to be in some serious pain right now.~_

"Like I said, get to know your enemy." He picked me up by the front of my uniform and he did so with ease. I wasn't a small girl and most guys just laughed at the suggestion of even trying to pick me up. I frowned in confusion. "Now look, we only want to help you. Don't make this difficult."

"Difficult! You're following me! I've just run a mile and a half and still you freaks keep following me!" He shook his head as he moved his hold to my arm.

* * *

****

WOLVERINE

I tapped my ear and spoke into the com link while keeping a hold on the girl. * Frosty, Elf, I've got her in a barn about a mile and a quarter from the school. *

* Good, we're on our way there. *

* Zat's great. Meet ja zere. *

"Aren't you mister exact." She sneered at me as she squirmed to get loose. She had a lot of fight in her. ~_Guess, that's a good thing if we can convince her to join us.~_ She then smiled and then literally evaporated into thin air. ~_What the hell!~_

* Frosty, what were this girl's powers again? *

* She has control over water. *

* Can she evaporate? Cause she literally disappeared into thin air on me. *

* I suppose it's possible, she did melt on me. * ~_Great.~ _* Can you sniff her out? *

* You're kidding right? All I can smell is horse and cow shit. Got my nose all fouled up. * I heard her sigh on the other line as I stepped outside the barn. I heard a constant click clack and saw her running across another cornfield about a half a mile away. ~_Well, at least I can still hear.~_ * I've got a visual. She's heading west through another cornfield. Looks like she's heading for some neighborhood or something. *

* I'll try and catch up vith her. *

* Don't think that's such a good idea, Elf. *

* Zey're all afraid of ze blue fuzzy dude, zen zey get to know me. Don't worry, I'll talk to her. *

* Last time I heard you say that you ended up in a coma. *

* Zis iz different. Vhat's she gonna do? Splash me. *

* Go for it then. *

* * *

****

NIGHTCRAWLER

I teleported into ze neighborhood zat Logan had described. It vas one of zose kinds zat had a bunch of older couples livin' in it after zere kids had already grown up. I glanced around looking for Allison but didn't see her. Instead I kept seeing decent sized homes vith yards nearly az big az de institute's grounds. ~_Zis iz definitely different from Bayville.~_ I zen spotted her cutting across an orchard tovards me. I teleported out of sight so zat she vouldn't run avay immediately at seeing me again. I ported into a tree and called down to her. She stopped and stared up at me in shock. "Do you guys ever give up?"

"No, zat vouldn't be any fun." I jumped down to stand next to her. She was tall probably five ten or eleven vith brown hair zat vas streaked blonde and red pulled back into a ponytail causing for an interesting appearance. She had steel green eyes zat flashed a bright blue az she stared at me. She vas vearing a gray uniform vith red pinstripes and 'Central' running across ze front, a number eleven adorned ze back. I took in ze red vizor and shin guards quickly zinking she'd be good at mutant ball if I could convince her to come vith us.

"See somethin' you like?"

"It's zat ja eyes, zey changed."

"Yeah, I know." She glanced down at ze ground zen tovards a vhite and blue house over ze hill. "That's my gram's place. She's always told me that my eyes were different. Guess I just didn't know how different."

"Ve von't hurt ja. Ve just vant to help." She smiled vistfully.

"You guys got softball where you're from?"

"No, but ve've got somezing better--mutant ball." She shot me a confused look. "It's softball vith powers. It's fun, ja'll see if ja come vith us. Zere's also ze high school team."

"How about basketball?"

"Ja."

"Another question. They got football?"

"Of course, all schools do."

"Any girls on the squad?"

"I don't zink so."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to come with you and stir things up a little." She broke out into a grin az she started valking tovards ze blue and vhite house. "Guess I should talk to my mom first. Umm…can you go back to normal looking? Like back at the field?" I nodded and tapped meine image inducer until my human form came up. "Okay, my gram's a real gossip. So you're a foreign exchange student who I'm showing the sites to. If she asks, the game ended early because we creamed 'em. Don't say a whole lot or you'll dig your own grave. Got it?"

"I zink so." ~_Wow she talks fast! ~_

"Good." ~_She seems to zink on her feet vell. Zis could get interesting zough.~_

* Elf, have you found her yet? *

* Ja, I'm vith her now. Ve're going to her grandmozer's to talk to her family. *

* I'm on my way Kurt. *

"What was that?"

"Miz Frost iz going to meet us."

"Oh…um…is that the lady in the white suit?"

"Ja."

"She's going to look more outta place then the guy with the claws." I laughed at ze zought of Miz Frost sitting down vith zese down to earth people.

"Um…quick…what's your name again?"

"Kurt Vagner."

"Vagner? That's odd."

"No, Vagner." She squinted and seemed to think it over.

"Oh, Wagner! With your accent it was hard to understand."

* * *

****

SPANKY

I sat at Gram's cluttered dining room table and kept shifting in my seat nervously. ~_Could Mom just hurry up and get here already?~_ Gram had taken to quizzing Kurt about Germany. I knew she was mostly German and partly Irish like the rest of our family but I didn't think she'd do this. ~_God, this is emabarrassing.~_ "Gram, maybe Kurt would like to not talk for a little while."

"Now, Ally, I'm just being polite to your guest."

"It's called harassment, Gram." She ignored me and still continued to talk to him. I zoned out staring about the room I'd practically grown up in. Well, kind of. The last ten years maybe. ~_What I wouldn't give to go live in a big city again. I miss the havoc and chaos of D.C.~_

"Yoo hoo, Earth to Ally."

"Huh?" I looked up to see my mother leaning over the table waving a hand in front of my face. ~_Sometimes, I don't know who's the parent--her or me?~_

"How was the game, sweetie?"

"Creamed 'em. Ended early."

"That's good. So who's your friend?" She had a mischievous look, which she got every time she saw me with a guy. I rolled my eyes. I'd never had a boyfriend and couldn't understand why my mom though I could over night. I was one of those girls that fit in and became one of the guys, but was never recognized as being a girl. That's what happened when you could talk football.

"This is Kurt Wagner, he's gonna be a foreign exchange student."

"Sweetie, I've told you before, that we can't afford another mouth to feed."

"Moooommm…I know that. I'm just showing him around."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Kurt." She shook his hand in a formal manner. It was sometimes hard to believe that this woman in overalls had once worked for the senate. But she'd given that all up when my grandfather had died so that we could move back to be near Gram.

'Ze pleasure is mine." My mom flashed me that 'he's a keeper' smile. I rolled my eyes before she started talking again.

"Where's your stuff?"

"Um…" I realized that in my running, I'd left all my equipment at the field. "Coach is taking it for me. The helmet needed some fixes and so did the chest pad."

"And your pappy's glove?"

"Needed relacing." I groaned realizing that the hundred dollar catching equipment would land me a grounding if it got lost, but Pappy's glove would get me killed. I flashed her an innocent smile as I tried worming my way out of the bad situation. *Brinnnggg. ~_Saved by the bell.~_

"That's odd, everyone knows that my door's unlocked and that they can come right on in."

"I'll get it Mom." My mother jumped up and answered the door for a formal looking lady in white. "We're not buying whatever you're selling." She went to shut the door again but Miss Frost's hand shot out and caught it before it latched shut.

"I'm not asking you to buy anything Miss Steele. I would like to speak to you about your daughter, though." This caught my mom off guard and the woman walked into the dining room where she finally introduced herself. "I'm Emma Frost of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Students. We'd like for you and Allison to see what we have to offer her."

"Unfortunately, I'm going to have enough trouble sending my daughter to college in two years. I can't afford a private school now. I'm sorry for your trouble."

"I don't think you understand, this will be of no cost to you. The institute is completely self-sufficient and has no tuition costs. It's more of a safe house where Allison will be able to learn control over her gifts. She'll be able to interact with students with similar abilities who will accept her for what she is."

"I don't know what you're insinuating, but my daughter isn't anything special other than the fact that she's extremely intelligent." I grimaced at this. I always hated it when my mom had to point out the fact to everyone that I was gifted.

"Mom, listen to her. I'd really like to check this place out."

"Lyss, please be quiet and let me handle this." I was on my feet now feeling a boiling anger at my mother's stubborness.

"But they'll understand me! They'll be able to help me with my illness. No more dehydration, no more doctors who don't know anything. They can help!"

"You're not ill. It's a mutation that gives you control over water and gives you many of the same properties of water. However, she's right about the fact that the institute can help her. Once she's learned control, she'll be able to lead a normal life."

"She already has a normal life. Some children have strange illnesses…this is one of them." My mom was starting to turn red and was reaching her stress point. I placed a hand on her shoulder hoping to calm her down and realized that the woman whom I'd always looked up to was slowly graying and was no longer a towering force over me. She was now at least three inches shorter and I'd never noticed that I'd surpassed her. She began crying and I sat back down feeling bad for yelling at her. "At least I'd hoped so. Where did I go wrong?"

"You haven't gone wrong at all, Miss Steele. We'd only like for you and Allison to visit our school. There is no pressure to enroll her and absolutely no cost to you if you do."

"Please, Mom, I'd really like to at least see it."

"Miz Steele, ze professor iz very nice. He takes care of everyzing such az schooling, boarding, food, everyzing." Kurt's input seemed to have an impact with Mom as she slowly nodded.

"I suppose we could check it out."


	3. Who Signed Me Up For Survivor?

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

~"Inner Voices"~

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

SPANKY

We'd visited the institute the weekend before so now I was swamped with packing up everything I owned. ~_God I feel like I'm going on survivor. I can only take my most valuable possessions with me.~_ I gazed at the open trunk that contained my various clothes. Most of it was t-shirts, jeans, and hoodies. There was the occasional sweater that I found to be nearly as comfy as a sweatshirt and had passed the bar.

"Lyss, why don't you take your dress." Mom was pulling my prom dress outta the back of my closet and I groaned. 

"Mom, I'm not going to need that. Besides if I decide to got to the prom at Bayville, I'll get it over spring break."

"What about Homecoming? Or the Sadie Hopkins dance?"

"Mother…It's just wrong for a football player to wear a dress to homecoming. That's why I didn't go last year."

"And that's why Mark ended up skipping and spending the whole night out searching for you."

"Hey, that's not my fault. Trust me, I've tried telling him what to do. He doesn't listen."

"You two are more alike then you'd like to admit."

"That's why we're best friends." My mom sighed realizing defeat and left. I stared at the dress for several minutes then carefully placed it into the bottom of the trunk. I draped it over the album of pictures from my parents' wedding that I'd swiped when Mom wasn't looking. ~_She won't ever notice it's gone. She's left in the attic for the past five years.~_ My guitar was in it's case leaning against the end of the bed, where my cat was sleeping contentedly. "I'm gonna miss you, Midnight." She looked up and blinked her eyes sleepily as she stood up, turned a few times, then went back to sleeping.

"Hey gurlfriend." I looked up at Kelly and gave her a half-smile. "We're really going to miss you. You sure you wanna go to some prep school?"

"Yeah, it's prolly best this way."

"Want some help?"

"Sure…those books need packed." She groaned as she stared at my huge book collection.

"You're taking all of 'em?"

I laughed. "No, just the hard backs, all my Michael Crichtons, Carol Higgins Clarks, and Steven Kings."

"Your crazy. I don't understand how you can read this stuff."

"They're great. Why don't you take one? Seriously, you loved the movie, why don't you actually read Jurassic Park?"

"I'll borrow it from the library."

"Translation--I'll never read it." We exchanged smiles as we both went back to packing various stuff into boxes.

"So you're leaving tomorrow."

"Uh huh."

"You'll be back over Thanksgiving, right? Maybe the guys'll make it to states again and we can go watch 'em."

"Okay." She pulled down one of the books and began laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I wondered why you dragged me to that movie, Timeline. Now I know."

"Hey, you and Mark both liked it so there."

"He would like anything that you did. The other day I actually saw him trying to read one of this guy's books."

"Mark reading? You're kidding."

"Nope."

"I feel bad leaving you guys in a lurch in the middle of the season."

"Don't, Coach gave everyone the day off from practice so we could 'come to terms with our loss'."

"You make it sound as if I'm dead!" She smiled as she tossed the last of the books I requested into the box and turned to look around the barren room. Just about everything that had made it my room was now packed into one box or another.

"I'm really going to miss you." She threw her arms around me in a hug as she started crying.

"Yeah me too." I wasn't the weepy type. I couldn't remember the last time I cried. ~

"Okay." She pulled down one of the books and began laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I wondered why you dragged me to that movie, Timeline. Now I know."

"Hey, you and Mark both liked it so there."

"He would like anything that you did. The other day I actually saw him trying to read one of this guy's books."

"Mark reading? You're kidding."

"Nope."

"I feel bad leaving you guys in a lurch in the middle of the season."

"Don't, Coach gave everyone the day off from practice so we could 'come to terms with our loss'."

"You make it sound as if I'm dead!" She smiled as she tossed the last of the books I requested into the box and turned to look around the barren room. Just about everything that had made it my room was now packed into one box or another.

"I'm really going to miss you." She threw her arms around me in a hug as she started crying.

"Yeah me too." I wasn't the weepy type. I couldn't remember the last time I cried. ~_Yeah, I can. It was when my dad quit talking to me on my twelfth birthday.~_

"You'll e-mail me and IM me right?"

"Of course."

"I'm serious, don't be like your usual self and forget or something."

"I won't everyday you'll get a nice li'l voice that says 'You've got mail'."

"I better get going then."

"I'll see you around then."

"Bye."

"Bye." Neither of us moved. It was like one of those dumb sappy love stories where I almost expected one of us to start 'you hang up first', 'no you hang up first'. She eventually let me out of her bear hug and left. That's when the tears started falling. I eventually cried myself to sleep that night.

* * *

"Ally, Mark's here to help you load the truck."

"Right-o Mom." I carried one of the lighter boxes into the living room and greeted Mark who was standing awkwardly in the dining room. "Hey big guy."

"Hey there short stuff." I frowned. Ever since I was li'l I'd wanted to be tall so the worst thing you could say to me was short. Of course he was doing it just to get me riled up. "So where's this monstrous trunk your mom was telling me about?"

"Back here." I led him back the hall to my now barren room and he let out a whistle.

"So there are walls in here. Couldn't tell before with all the posters."

"Shut up and grab an end." He grinned as he easily lifted one end into the air nearly pulling my arms outta their sockets.

"You gonna be able to manage this when you get there?"

"I hope so. There must be someone who'll help."

"If not you could just live outta the back of your truck." I shot him a death glare as he walked down the stairs to the parking lot backwards.

"Watch it, if I push to hard you're going for a nice li'l trip." We heaved the trunk up and slid it into the back of my truck. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed me back inside for the various other stuff. An hour later we'd toted it all down and were standing over the truck bed tying down a tarp.

"Think you've got enough stuff?"

"Nope. Still wish I could take Midnight with me, but there's kids there allergic to pets or something."

"I could take her to the farm. She'd have a grand ol' time chasing mice all day."

"She's an indoor cat, Mark. Not one of you mousers." I gave one of the bungee cords a tug to see that it held. It did so I walked over and pulled open the driver's door t' check that my cell phone was charging properly. ~_Last thing I need is to get lost, or break down in the Poconos. Done that once, and that was enough for me.~_ I stood back up and nearly knocked into him.

"Geez watch it, Frederick. You're going to give me a heart attack yet." He smiled as he placed a hand under my chin and tilted my face up.

"There's one thing I wanted to do before you left. Might never get the chance again."

"It's not like I'm falling off the face of the earth. I'll be back on breaks and I'll be writing nearly everyday via e-mail." He shook his head at my naivete. He leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. I gasped at this change as he pulled back.

"It wasn't that bad was it?"

"No…I…you surprised me." He smiled before kissing me again. This time I found myself falling into it as the kiss deepened. We pulled back when we heard applause from the porch above. "Mootthhheeeerrr." Mark laughed as he jumped into his own truck and prepared to peel out.

"Don't forget a weekly phone call as well." I rolled my eyes at him as he disappeared down the quarter mile drive.

"You know it took you two long enough."

"You could have at least kept from clapping."

"Heat of the moment thing. Ready to go?" There was a touch of sadness in her voice. She was going to ride along with me in the truck so that I wasn't alone for four hours straight.

"I guess." For someone who was in her late forties, my mom didn't act it. If anything she was like Kelly, hyperactive, positive, rambunctious, and more often than not, right on when it came to guys. For someone who could understand the guys in my life so easily, she had had enough troubles figuring out her own. She'd been married and divorced four times. My dad had been lucky number three, but the guy that followed, was a real ass hole. Turned out that after they were married for eight years, he was into child porn. As you can guess, he got dumped right quick.

I got behind the steering wheel and pumped up the music as my mom got into the passenger seat. She frowned as Avril Levigne came on singing 'Naked'. "What?"

"Change it." I grumbled and fumbled with the radio as we moved down the drive. The next station that came up was classical and quickly got changed. Evanescence came up next with 'Going Under' and I received yet another reproachful glare. Again I flicked the radio station as I got onto the main highway. I groaned as Britney Spears came over the waves with her scratchy voice. The final station to come through on a clear signal was country. My mom smiled and I shrugged. ~_Anything's better than Britney.~_

We'd been driving for several hours before this process was repeated. Of course this time I argued and won the point that this was a chance for my mom to learn an appreciation for punk and rock. For the most part we were silent only doing tiny bits of small talk about traffic, weather, the Mets, upcoming football, such is life. 

I was grateful that my mom appreciated my athletic side. She had always thought I was going to be a boy and had even picked the Jonathon Edward Williams. My grandfather Williams had a conniption at the thought of his grandson having the initials JEW. My parents hadn't even considered a girl's name so I was named after my mom's best friend at the time and was given my great grandmother's name Nicole for a middle name. ~_I'm not going to find someone like Mom any where else. God I'm going to miss her. I'm definitely coming back every break though. Gotta knock some sense into Mark, harass Kelly some, and keep Mom from going depressed due to loneliness.~_

Ever since I'd started high school Mom had become ever more intune to the fact that I would eventually be going to college and growing up and away from her. It didn't help that I kept saying I wanted to go to some huge college where I could blend in and then move back to D.C. or New York City. Now I was going to a private school where I could only visit her on breaks.

I glanced at her but she was lost in thought as she stared out the window at the Poconos as we flew through. My mouth twitched up in a half smile. "You know we could take a detour to the city for a ball game. Subway series this weekend."

"That would be nice, but you'll have plenty of time for things like that with your new friends. Why waste an afternoon with your old mom."

"Cause I love you mother dearest of mine." She gave me a weak smile. I always called her that when I knew she wasn't really paying attention. The drawn out title seemed to usually bring her back to reality. The rest of the drive to Bayville went in utter silence except for the occasional argument when stations fizzed out.

"Welcome to Bayville." I read the sign as I sped past it at a good seventy miles per hour. Now that I was here I was almost regretting my decision. ~_I should just turn around and face this alone. No, not alone. Mom and Mark and Kelly would be there for me.~_

"You're doing the right thing."

"Thanks, Mom. I'm just really confused right now. Everything just changed on me at once. I'm different now…Mark's screwing with my head…even you, you're different too." She looked at me confused which I caught outta the corner of my eye. "I mean, with you just buying the shop, you've been really busy lately."

"You don't think I've abandoned you do you?"

"Aww…Mom. Of course not. You've had it rough, and you're an awesome mother. Some kids have got two parents who can't even tell you what homeroom they're in. But you, you're at nearly every game, talk to all my teachers, know the guidance counselor's extension by heart…you're a super mom, literally." She smiled as I pulled onto the country lane that would lead to the Xavier Institute. If it wouldn't have been for mom driving us up her the weekend before, I'd never have found the place.

Several miles down the road I came across the iron gates of the Institute and punched the intercom. "Err…hello. This is Allison."

"Like hey, just a minute. We're like totally expecting you." I raised an eyebrow at the girl's eager voice on the other end as I shot Mom a strange look.

"At least they seem happy to have you."

"A li'l too happy if you ask me." She smiled as the gate opened allowing me to drive my Chevy in. I parked it at the front steps to the main door where Logan was standing waiting. "Wow, this place offers valet parking?" The corner of his mouth twitched as if he was fighting a smile. ~_He'll be one to crack.~_ I had a way of making even the toughest teachers back at school crack down and claim me as teacher's pet. It was a good skill to have when you needed a teacher to cover your back on a plan.

I tossed him the keys and shook my finger mockingly. "Scratch this baby of mine and you're a dead man walking." Another twitch at the corner of his mouth as I walked up the front steps with my mom. Professor Xavier was there in the front foyer with Miss Frost ready to greet us.

"I'm glad you decided to come back." He had his chin rested on his hands as if he was deep in thought. I glanced around looking at the elegance of the place and finding it hard to believe that a dozen teens lived here. Of course I'd already briefly met most of them. One of the girls, Jubilee, I think had told me that two of them were in New Orleans though, but they'd eventually be back. From what I'd heard the missing ones were Rogue, a real bad ass who seemed to have everyone here licked, and Remy, one of those real suave macho types.

"Come on you're a psychic, you knew all along I'd be back." I shot him a winning smile which he returned. I heard laughter coming from down a side hall and curiosity got the best of me. While Mom talked to the two adults I drifted away and peered down the hall. I couldn't see anything except for several arched doorways leading off. The laughter came from one of the open ones.

I glanced back and saw that no one was paying me any attention so I walked down the hall to inspect. I stopped in the doorway to see a bunch of guys wrestling over a game controller.

"Come on man, it's my turn."

"No way, you played the last game Icepick."

"Guthrie…"

"Drake…" The two guys had each other in headlocks as the yanked at the controller. A younger boy walked past took the controller and sat down on the couch and started the next game with a tanned boy. The two of 'em stopped in shock and glanced at the younger boy.

"You're dead, Jamie."

"If something happens to me, you'll have Rogue to mess with when she gets back." ~_There's that Rogue name again. Guess she really is the local bad ass.~_ I smirked at the boy with longer blonde hair as he released the other boy who had shorter brown hair. 

I gazed at the blonde boy remembering Mark who'd I'd last seen only four and a half short hours ago and already missed. He noticed my presence and smiled. "Howdy."

"Hey ya all." This caused him to smile even more. He came rushing over to my side and took me by the arm and led me towards the couch where the other three guys were sitting.

"Say that again."

"Um…hey ya all."

"Thank you God! Another southerner."

"Um…not really. I've lived in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Not all that far south."

"Don't matter, you talk like it. You eat grits?"

"Yeah, you don't ever live south of the Mason-Dixon Line longer than a week and not."

"Then you're a southerner." His reasoning caught me off guard as I let my gaze fall on the other boys.

The brown haired boy nudged the tanned one in the ribs with an elbow and smirked. "Guess what we'll be eating now for a while."

"You guys like shit and shingles?" My question caused all of them to wrinkle their noses and look at me like I was completely nuts. "It's dried beef gravy on toast. Really good. I'll make it sometime."

"Yeah, sure whatever you say." The brown haired kid looked at me disbelievingly.

"I'm game." The younger boy, prolly around thirteen or fourteen, looked like the dare devil type who would've eaten worms if you told him to.

"Sorry, but I draw the line at food called shit." The tan boy I figured was Hispanic or from South America somewheres. 

"What about you?" I spoke to the blonde who only smiled.

"I've heard of worse things."

"Kid, there you are. You ready to say goodbye and get settled in?" I turned to see Logan and yanked my arm back from the blond boy's grasp.

"You bet." I followed him outta the room waving back over my shoulder at the four guys. ~_I think I've found my niche.~_

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So what do you think so far? Good or bad? Drop or keep? You tell me.

Thank you **Ladie-giggles **and **Nie Starwhistler** for the reviews.


	4. Speaking With God

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey, I made some minor detail changes that needed fixed up: lyrics, minor stuff.

* * *

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

~"Inner Voices"~

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

SPANKY

Half an hour ago I'd said goodbye to my mother and waved goodbye as Ororo Munroe drove her to the airport where she'd fly back into our hick town's itty-bitty airport with it's teeny tiny 15 passenger planes. I smiled remembering how much my mom liked excitement and the time that we'd flown to Disney World the summer after second grade. We'd stood in line for hours on end to go down this one slide at Blizzard Beach that took a grand total of two seconds to go down.

I shook my head clearing my thoughts as I put clothes away into a closet. Two blue eyed girls watched me with curiosity. There were two startling differences between them. One had purple hair and a British accent, the other was a brunette and talked like a sweet valley girl. I turned to glance at them before I pulled more clothes outta my trunk. "Let me get this straight now. You're Betsy, my room mate." I pointed at the girl with the purple hair who nodded. "And you're Kitty, the girl who opened the gate for me." The brunette nodded this time. ~_Great, I'm horrible with names. By dinner tonight, I'll have 'em all forgotten.~_

Don't worry about that. You'll get a hang of them eventually. My eyes went wide as I heard a voice inside my head.

I'm too young to die, God.

That's a first. I'm a telepath, luv. I looked across the room at Betsy who was smiling broadly. I shook my head again and scolded myself to think less--at least around other people in this place.

"Okay, so she's a telepath, what are you?"

"I can like phase through anything. And if I phase through electronics, they short circuit."

"That sounds cool."

"Well, like usually it's pretty awesome, but I've like gone through three alarm clocks in the past year." I laughed as I drug out the prom dress from the bottom of the trunk causing both girls' mouths to form li'l 'o's. "That's like so pretty."

"Yeah, my mom got it for me. I wasn't even going to go, but my best friend had an extra ticket when his girlfriend dumped him." The two of 'em exchanged looks that prolly would have looked like my mother and Kelly if they'd had this conversation.

"So what's this 'friend's' name, luv."

"Mark, we've been best friends since I started at Central in seventh grade. We even did this project together in eighth grade where we had to be married. It was the most ridiculous concept, but we didn't know who else to work with."

"Right…" I shot the brunette a glare as I moved the photo album and other miscellaneous items to a dresser top. I unfolded the guitar stand and stuck it in the space between the dresser and the closet and placed my baby blue fender lovingly in it. I stuffed the case into the back of the closet where I could find it if I needed it later on.

"Hey, Kitty, Kurt's looking for you." I looked at the doorway and took in the Indian girl's appearance. Long black hair pulled back into a single braid and natural brown clothing. 

That's Daniel Moonstone, or Dani. She's a psychic as well. I nodded as Kitty and Dani left the room. 

This place have enough psychics?

No such thing, luv.

I sat down on the bed that had been given to me and sprawled out on the comforter I'd brought with me. Mets of course--the contrasting royal blue and orange were bright and cheerful and the fact that they're symbol was of the city was perfect. Deep down, I just wanted to be city slicker, and I'd finally been able to ditch the country bumpkin town.

"Who's the third bed belong to?" I gazed at the third bed in the room that had an emerald green comforter on it. That portion of the room was strangely barren minus very few personal items.

"Rogue." I sat up and looked at Betsy. She looked suddenly saddened.

"I thought she was in New Orleans."

"Yeah, she went to see her boyfriend. Everyone keeps hoping she'll talk him into coming back soon." I nodded realizing that the two must be close and that it was a painful topic.

"Hey, you guys going to eat or just lie around here?" A vibrant blonde appeared in the doorway. She was dressed wildly and seemed to have a wild persona as well.

"We're coming, Tabby."

"Just hurry up, or I can't promise you that Kurt will leave anything."

I stood up and followed her from the room. That's Tabitha, she's a bit on the wild side. Watch out or you'll be at the exploding end of her practical jokes. I looked at Betsy confused but didn't ask anything else.

We passed the next room to have a tall red head join us. We were both about the same height but she was skinny and cheerleader like. I almost gagged on instinct at her appearance. "Hi, I'm Jean. You must be Allison."

"Uh huh. I prefer Spanky though." She raised an eyebrow, which was pretty common as people first heard my nickname. "You know from the li'l Rascals?" Get your minds outta the gutters people."

"That's a lot better than most names you get around a place like this. I lucked out and got a cool one like Boom Boom."

"I like that." I smiled at Tabitha seeing she may be wild, but she'd be the one to push the rules with me.

We eventually made it to the dining room where I took in all of the students at once in the same room. The blond boy was sitting at the end next to the brown haired guy he'd been wrestling. Jean walked over to a counter and planted a kiss on the cheek of a tall guy in shades. That's Scott, the leader. His name's Cyclops and he shoots energy beams from his eyes. Jean's a telepath as well. At the end of the table, that's Sam also called Cannonball, he can fly at super speeds and must have some invulnerability. Next to him is Bobby or Iceman. He can create ice from water particles in the air. The little guy next to him is Jamie, or Multiple. The name kinda gives away the fact that he makes copies of himself. The girl next to him is Sarah, she's Marrow. You can see what her mutation is. Next up is Roberto, or Sunspot. He uses the sun's energy for super strength. Then there's Jubilee who can make fireworks. Amara, or Magma, is a real princess, no kidding there. Ray, or Beserker, is a bit crazy and can shoot bolts of electricity. Rahne, or Wolfsbane, can turn into a real live wolf. Kinda like a werewolf if you will. Kurt's the blue guy, he can teleport through another dimension. The guy next to Kitty is Piotr, or Colossus. He can cover himself with armor if need be. Um…am I missing anyone?

What about the adults?

Right, Logan as you know has claws, scary as hell sometimes. He also has super healing. Miss Frost, can take on this whole diamond appearance thing and is also kind of a telepath. There's Ororo, who's a weather witch. Mister McCoy or Beast looks like a beast but he's super nice. Quotes Shakespeare all the time and everything. Then there's the professor. I shot Betsy an appreciative smile then a thought occurred to me.

What about the two students in New Orleans. What are their powers?

Rogue can't touch. If she does, she absorbs your powers, your memories, basically absorbs everything that makes you, you. Remy is our local clown and con man. He has the ability to charge things up and cause them to explode.

Sounds cool. I sat down and enjoyed my first meal with the X-Men. Of course I got quizzed a lot about myself.

"What'd you do for fun?" Betsy switched to verbal on me as we joined the others.

"Play ball mostly. Any kind of ball I could get my hands on—football, basketball, softball. Did other stuff, bowling, horseback riding, snow mobiling, four wheeling, dirt biking, paint ball. We made our own fun most of the time."

"So like what are your powers?" I watched as Ororo shot Kitty a warning glance but she ignored it.

"I don't really understand 'em yet, but I can melt into a liquid or turn into a vapor. The professor told me I can manipulate water as well, but I can't remember doing that."

"What about your folks? They understand the whole mutant thing?" I glanced down the table at Sam who seemed to watch me with curiosity. 

"My mom was cool about it. Haven't told my dad though. Didn't see a reason too since he hasn't bothered talking to me in over four years." I was holding my glass of water and nearly dropped it when the water began to swirl around inside. I quickly set it back down watching the miniature whirlpool.

Try and relax, Allison. I believe that at least for now your powers are emotionally connected. I continued to stare at the water beginning to find it calming to watch the swirling waters and forgot my anger at my father. As I did so the water stopped and came to a still. There was a brief round of applause from the guys at the end except for Sam who was still watching but now with worried curiosity.

"I've gotta go." I stood up and left my plate of food untouched as I exited the dining room.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"What was that all about?" Roberto seemed confused by the new girl's actions as we all watched her hasty exit.

"Girls, who'll ever figure them out?" Jubilee delivered a sharp kick to Bobby from under the table causing him to wince. "What?"

"You know what, Icepick." 

We finished eating in silence and I stayed back to take my turn at doing dishes. When I finished I found Miss Frost and the professor still talking at the table. I tried to slip out unnoticed so they didn't think I was eavesdropping but it didn't work. "Sam, could you do a favor for me?"

"Sure thing, Proff." I turned around and went back to the table where the professor indicated to a package.

"Would you take that up to Allison for me? She's in the same room as Betsy." I nodded and groaned inwardly. I'd once had a crush on Bets but now she was dating Angel. ~_Some guys have all the luck.~_ Everyone knew which room was Betsy's. Hard not to after that bash we'd thrown for New Years when she'd been sharing it with Kitty and Rogue.

I took the package and headed up towards the girls' dorms. I glanced around to make sure no one saw me and quietly knocked on the door. I could hear a boom box blasting through the door so knocked a little louder to make sure I was heard.

{I guess it's no use , I'm screwing up ever little thing I ever try to do, I was born to lose, Yeah yeah yeah yeah}

~_Simple Plan. Cool music.~_ She opened the door and looked surprised to see me. "Hey Allison."

"Don't call me that. Only the professor does and my mother when she's mad. Call me Spanky, call me Al, call me anything but Allison. And if you're looking for Bets I think she's downstairs."

{God must hate me, He cursed me for eternity, God must hate me, Maybe you should pray for me}

"Nope, the proff sent me to give you this, _Spanky_." I held up the box and she opened the door to let me in. I glanced around quickly taking in how much different it was. Rogue's gothic stuff was gone and Kitty's pink stuff was gone leaving Bets' purple stuff and now a bunch of sporting stuff. She went back to her book shelf which she was filling to the max.

{I'm breaking down and you can't save me, I'm stuck in hell, And I wanna go home, And I wanna go home}

"I'll get to it. You can just leave it on the bed."

"I'm guessing it's the Mets one." She nodded. ~_She and Rogue'll get along on the baseball team thing.~_ "Um…I overheard you talking about football at dinner. You a cheerleader?"

She spun around on her heel and glared me down making me wish I could take back those words instantly. "I take that as an insult. Do I really look like some preppy li'l cheerleader?"

"No…"

"Good."

"But why were you talking about football?"

"Maybe because I played last year." My eyebrows shot up in surprise. ~_She digs the game and plays?!?!~_ "Went to states and everything."

"Cool. What position?"

"Kicker…and at the last part of playoffs, one of our running backs got hurt so I filled in." As she talked she unpacked a box of sporting stuff. A softball glove, batting gloves, a softball, catching equipment, a basketball, shoulder pads, and a football all got stuffed into the bottom of the closet.

"Maybe we could go to sign up at the same time." She turned to look at me from inside her closet.

"You play?"

"Sure, running back. Was only on JV last year, so I'm trying out for Varsity this year." She nodded as she stood up and brushed off her jeans.

"Sounds like a plan. The professor says I need to get enrolled first so if you don't mind hanging around the high school waiting on me."

"Naw…no problem." I scratched the back of my head and looked away for a moment. "Um…you mind driving? I only have a permit." She laughed and nodded her head.

"Yeah, sure thing. You mind ol' beat up Chevys?"

"Nope. Used to drive one back in Tennessee on the farm. Didn't need a license to do that."

"Yeah, well, I'm just grateful that I got my license before I left Pennsylvania. Takes too damn long up here."

"Well…see you in the Danger Room tomorrow morning…bright and early." 

"Um…what do I wear to that?" I pointed to the box as an answer before I left.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I watched him leave thinking that he really was a clone of Mark. They both had the same self-doubt problem. ~_He seems like a nice enough guy. Heck everyone here does.~_ I turned to the box he'd dropped on my bed and quickly tore it open. I pulled out a spandex suit that reminded me of what the wrestlers wore back at Central. ~_Heck, it's worse than that even.~_

It was a black body suit that had electric blue contrasting against it. The blue went down the arms and legs in stripes that looked similar to the stitching on a baseball. Also, an electric blue collar stuck up looking slightly like a blouse. (A/N: think Kitty's uniform) There were 'X's on the shoulders and there was an 'X' on the light gray belt as well. I looked at the gray boots that had blue buckles to match the suit and were in the box as well. A pair of gray and blue gloves were in there as well and they looked surprisingly a lot like batting gloves. 

I glanced at the suit and couldn't imagine it actually fitting. ~_I'm going to be too broad shouldered for this. It looks like it's made for an anorexic. Hell, it's just not going to fit.~_

I glanced back into the box and saw a note. I picked it up and began reading.

%Dear Allison,

Welcome to the Xavier Institute. I hope that you find the uniform to your liking. Like the rest of the students, everyone has a code name that is used in training and combat. Unless, you object, yours will be Hydra. I think you will find it to be interesting.

Once again welcome,

__

Charles Xavier%

__

~Hydra, huh? That's that creature from mythology that when you cut off one head, it grew back two more. That and it sounds like hydro for water. Not bad. But what's this whole combat thing? Don't remember that in the introductory spiel.~

I folded the uniform up and put it into my dresser and turned to look at my stuff feeling slightly more at home. It had that sterile, just unpacked feeling. ~_Give it a week, then it'll just be as messy as it used to be at home.~_

"Hey there you are, luv. You gonna come down and join us?"

"I don't know, I think I might crash."

"No, you're going to be semi-normal and sociable." She yanked me outta the room by the arm and I finally got turned around and followed willingly. "Was that Sam I saw coming outta there?"

"Yeah. He was giving me my uniform. We also talked shop about football."

"He's really excited about trying out."

"I picked up on that."

"So you're really not completely clueless."

"Hey! I resent that." By the time we ended our squabble she'd brought me back to the living room where the guys were arguing over what ball game to watch or if they should watch the motocross race. I personally didn't care because by then the Mets vs. Yankees game was over having started at one.

"Let the newbie pick." Everyone liked Ray's suggestion and stared at me expectantly as I thought it over.

"Motocross?" Sam grabbed the remote and turned on ESPN2 with a shout of glee.

"How much did he pay you off for?" I backed away from Bobby and his accusatory glare.

"Hey, cool off man." Some of the other guys started laughing.

"Telling the Icepick to cool off. That's great!" Ray slapped Bobby across the back causing him to mutter darkly under his breath. I ignored him as I crouched down catcher style next to Jamie on the floor.

"What's up bud?"

"Hey." He went back to reading his book. I leaned forward to look at the cover and saw it was a cheat guide to Madden 2004.

"Interesting read?"

"Uh huh."

"You normally this quiet?"

"No."

"Just when you're reading." He looked up at me and smiled.

"I need to figure this game out so I can beat them." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the guys who were arguing over who had the best stunts.

"Sounds like a good goal there, hon."

"You sound like Rogue. She normally calls me sugar though. You've also kind of got her southern accent."

"Is that a good thing?"

"If you like people to fear you."

"I like respect and friends. How's that sound."

"Now you're losing the Roguish sound."

"Good, I'm my own person and I'd like to stay that way." He smiled at me before going back to his reading. I stood back up and looked for an empty seat on the couch. There wasn't one but I knew how to make one. I stood in front of the t.v. causing the guys to split as they tried to look around me. They made a spot in the middle and I took it. ~_I think I can get used to this place.~_ I propped my feet up on the coffee table in front of me and sank back into the cushions.

I could hear Kitty laughing behind me so I twisted around to look at her. "Never seen anyone get their attention in the middle of a sports thing."

"Gotta know what it takes to make 'em move. In this case, it's the same thing that would make me move." She smiled as she shook her head.

* * *

****

SHADOWCAT

"She like totally fits in with the guys, you know?"

"Uh huh."

"Hey don't sound so down, Jubes. It's not like Bobby's falling for her." Jubilee glared at Amara. "He really hates her guts. She's more of a guy than he is and it's messing with his head some."

Amara, Tabitha and I broke into giggles at the thought of Bobby wearing a skirt. Basically any guy compared to Allison looked slightly girly. She was into everything…if it ended in 'ball' she played it. If it had to do with engines, she could run it. If you needed a decent belch, we had no doubt she could pull it off.

"She seems really nice though." We all nodded in agreement with Bets. She was nice, almost too nice. Around here she'd eventually get run over if she didn't watch it.

"I don't think she'll last five minutes tomorrow morning though." Tabby's comment brought another round of nodding. Danger Room sessions were grueling for first timers.

"We'll like all have to wish her luck then."


	5. Advice From Your Shink

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

~"Inner Voices"~

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I rolled over and pushed my face deeper into the pillow and ignored my mother as she tried to rouse me from my bed. "Luv, it's time to get up. We've got a training session." ~_Luv? Training session? What the hell?~_ I opened one eye and jumped in surprise and fell on my butt on the floor. Betsy laughed at me as I tried to disentangle myself from the blankets, cursing.

"It's too fucking early. I've never even gotten up this early for football. God damn it! Someone cut these things off." She walked over and pulled gently on one of the blankets causing the others to fall away. "Thanks." I stood up waving on my unsteady feet. I felt like crap and was in no mood for training of any kind.

I crossed over to the dresser and pulled out the uniform that they'd given me and slowly pulled it on. It surprised me that it fit and I walked over to look at myself in the mirror. ~_God, I look like I belong in the military.~_ I loosened the belt three notches so that it hung off my one hip. _~That helps some.~_ I didn't see what else I could do to look somewhat original. I pulled my hair pack into a ponytail at the base of my neck frowning at the green eyes that stared back at me. ~_I'd prefer blue with this uniform…but then they never are the color I want them to be.~_ As I turned to walk away they flickered blue and I sighed in frustration.

"Ready luv?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She led me into the depths of the institute. I was too tired to pay much attention to where she was taking me and would prolly end up lost trying to find my way back up. Without pockets to hook my thumbs into I resorted to the belt frowning at the stupidity of no pockets.

"You two are late." Logan frowned as we entered and was tapping his foot impatiently. Although he didn't wear a watch he tapped his wrist to make his point.

"It's my fault, luv. I woke her up late."

"Right…today we're doing the labyrinth simulation. Work together as a team and get through it as quickly as you can. Sooner you're out, the sooner you can do your own things." He walked outta the room and the door closed behind him.

Scott jumped into leader mode as the room changed around us. "Kurt and Kitty, I want the two of you to scout ahead. Amara and Ray, hang back and cover out backs…" I zoned out realizing this was a basic plan.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure you get out in one piece." I glared at Bobby as he placed his hand on my shoulder and froze.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"What'd you do to her, man?" I stared at her frozen form as she glared lifelessly at the group of us. She was a frozen statuette with her hands planted on her hips in what had become permanent boredom.

"I didn't do anything! I just put my hand on her shoulder and she froze." Bobby seemed just about as freaked out as the rest of us. Everyone stared at Scott expectantly waiting for him to figure out how to reverse this so we could go on with our training. I kept waiting for Logan to come back then realized that Logan didn't give a shit. ~_What would he say…this is part of training bubs.~_

"Magma, see if you can warm her up."

"Right." Amara went into flaming form and stood about a foot away from Al. The color slowly returned to her face and then she moved. Bobby just happened to be in her line of sight and she went straight to choke him.

"Woah, there girl. Last time you two touched you got frozen in time." I grabbed her to stop her from making a repeat.

"Huh?"

"Look, I don't know what happened, but the two of you, don't go near each other." Scott handed out his orders to Bobby and Allison and she just looked confused as we started into the maze.

"What's he talking about, Sam?"

"Bobby must have frozen you by accident. That whole ice and water thing mustn't mix very well." We followed the rest of the team in and after turning two corners Kurt came back.

*Bamf! "Zere's two robots up ahead."

"How far?"

"About ten meterz." Scott nodded towards Bobby and Jubilee to go ahead and take care of the first obstacle. Bobby went on looking smug causing the rest of us to groan.

An hour later we finally made our way out of the damn maze just to find more robots waiting for us on the other side. We split up each in charge of taking down their own opponent. I just rocketed at one of 'em and they were down for the count easily. 

When I looked back I saw Allison trying to dodge attacks but not making any of her own. ~_What is she doing?~_ All of a sudden she just charged the thing like a linebacker and sent its head flying skittering across the floor. ~_Well, that works.~_ She ran over to the edge of the room to stand next to me. She wasn't even breaking a sweat as she crouched down. "Not bad."

"What, is it expected for the newbies to fail or something?"

"Usually." She smiled up at me as she leaned back against the wall watching the others. Kitty phased through hers and joined us next. Bobby froze his, Amara shot hers with a ball of magma, Tabby bombed hers, Ray electrocuted his, and so forth. Didn't take much longer for everyone to finish up and the simulation faded away.

Logan came back in nodding with some approval. "Not bad. Good thinking on your feet One-Eye at the beginning. Learn to control your powers Cubes, and nice recovery Kicks." Allison raised an eyebrow at Logan's strange new nickname for her. "Alright, go shower up and go on your merry ways."

Everyone filed out of the Danger Room grateful for it to be over. "I'm like totally spending the whole day by the pool."

"That sounds like a plan to me, luv." I watched the girls walk into their locker room and was about to follow the guys when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"See you topside in an hour?" I turned to see Allison who had color back in her face after the freezing incident.

"Err…yeah."

"'Til then." She waved as she ran to catch up with the others.

"Sammy's got a girlfriend…"

"Shut up, Bobby!"

"Bet I know why they call her _Spanky_."

"Bobby you're really pushing it now." I lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. Scott grabbed my shoulder and pulled me up to keep me from choking him.

"Break it up you two. If you're going to go all at it, do it outside where you're less likely to destroy something."

"Gladly." I gritted my teeth as I glared Bobby down. He seemed to have lost his edge as he turned and walked away.

"And you should save your energy for the football field next week."

"Why? So I can get showed up by a girl?" I shook my head realizing that she'd probably end up going out as a running back just like me. She had two things going for her that I didn't—she'd played it as varsity level before and she was a senior. ~_Who am I kidding?~_

* * *

****

BOOM BOOM

"Did you see Sam when Al got all frozen?" I grinned at Allison who was busy picking at her hair.

"Yeah, he was like totally worried!" She frowned as Kitty chimed in and was going to walk out the door while pulling her hair back into a pony tail when Rhane stood in her way.

"Not every day that Sam gets a crush. How about it, Bets?"

Betsy blushed slightly remembering the brief crushing period after Christmas break. "That wasn't a big deal, luv. This is much more serious. He just met you yesterday!" She frowned as she pulled a ball cap on and stuffed the ponytail through the hole in the back.

"You people need to get a life. It's no wonder I hang out with guys more." She rolled her eyes and attempted to break for it again. This time Jubilee and Amara formed a tag team blockade.

"Come on you can't say you don't like him."

"He actually is kinda cute, if you go for that whole rebel look."

"With the jean jacket…"

"And long hair…"

"You two are too much. I'm going…" She melted down and reappeared behind them. "…now." She pushed the door open and walked out much to all of our disappointment.

"Wow, could she have taken that any worse? You'd think we'd accused her of falling for someone like Scott." I snickered along with just about everyone else. Jean came around the corner towel drying her hair looking confused.

"What's this about Scott?"

"Nothing!" We all said that at one time causing her to be even more confused. ~_And people think I'm a ditzy blonde.~_

When Jean left as well we all fell into giggles. "She like totally has to be dying her hair!"

* * *

****

HYDRA

I stood out by my truck waiting for Sam so that I could get to the school and become an official Bayville student. ~_Yeah, these registration things are always fun—not! And what's up with those girls? You'd think it be a li'l obvious that I don't get girly li'l crushes.~_

Sam came walking into the garage silently and climbed into the cab of my ol' red pickup. I shrugged off the stony silence as I got behind the wheel and started the engine. I winced at the static that came screaming outta the radio. "What are the good stations around here?" I quickly turned down the volume 'til I could get it programmed correctly onto something.

"Depends what you're in to."

"Anything but the classics and oldies…and Britney." I shuddered at the last word and he grinned as he took over the tuning knob. Out of the radio came Eminem's voice loud and clear.

{Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked, He's so mad, but he wont give up that is he?}

"That works." He sat back in his seat and stared out the window as I pulled up to the gates. ~_Great, the strong, silent type.~_

{No he wont have it, He knows his whole back city's ropes, It dont matter, He's dope, He knows that, but he's broke}

I rolled my eyes and the light bulb went on over my head. ~_I'll force him to talk to me.~_ "You mind telling me how to get to the school? I'm a little lost yet."

"Turn left up here." ~_We're gonna have to expand on these answers.~_

{He's so stacked that he knows, When he goes back to his mobile home, That's when its back to the lab again yo, This whole rap shit, He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him}

For the most part it was quiet going to the school except for the occasional direction.

{Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, To seize everything you ever wanted, One moment, Would you capture it or just let it slip?}

When we arrived in the school parking lot I sighed in defeat realizing I'd need a new plan for the return trip. ~_Can only stand to play ditzy once a day. Hell, only once a week. Consider it your lucky day, hon. Besides, whoever heard of a quiet football player?!?!~_

I followed him inside the school where he silently led me to the gym where there was a sign up sheet on a bulletin board. We both signed our names to the sheet and I guesstimated that there were already fifty names of people who'd signed up. I signed it 'Al Williams' so it wouldn't get scratched off by the next sexist pig that signed up.

"The office is down here." As we walked I looked into the several trophy cases taking in all the different awards.

"A guy like you…I'm surprised you even know where the office is."

"Trust me, you'll get to see plenty of Principal Kelly by the end of the first semester. He likes to keep an eye on the 'mutant menace'."

"Thought this place was to be some kind of a safehouse."

He shrugged. "The institute is the safest place there is. Trouble is once you leave the grounds…no one really cares anymore." We reached the office and he left me to go in alone. I glanced back briefly at him but he gave me a reassuring smile.

I approached the counter but saw no secretary at the desk or anywhere in sight. I leaned over it to glance back a hall for a sign of anybody. "Yoo hoo. Anybody home?" I heard some papers being shuffled in an office down the hall and waited for the person to show themselves. 

A stern looking man with glasses walked out and glanced at me quickly. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, I'm new."

"We normally don't deal with the new students until a week before school starts."

"That's cool and all, but I wanna play football. And I think tryouts are Friday, so I kinda need to register now." He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and took a good hard look at me. "Yeah, I'm a girl and if you take a picture, it'll last longer. Can you get me registered or am I wasting my time now?"

He ducked behind the counter and returned with a clipboard and pen. "Fill these out. I'll be back for them in a minute or two."

"Sure." I sat down in one of the waiting chairs and began filling out the forms. Once he left I glanced back through the glass wall to see Sam pacing back and forth. He noticed me and stuck out his tongue and I returned the favor. I rolled my eyes and went back to work on the forms. ~_Hair color?~_ I checked brown, blonde and red. ~_Eye color? Green and blue.~ _I filled out other information like my address in Bayville, name and such. %Courses completed: Latin I & II, Accounting I & II, Various Computer Courses, AP History, American Literature, 11 Honor's English, Mythology, Advanced Algebra, Statistics, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Biology, Physics, Honor's Chem I% ~_How'd I cram all that into three years?~_

I stood back up at the counter and cleared my throat loudly. The man returned and glanced over the forms quickly and frowned as he handed the clipboard back. "You missed a question."

"Oh, what's that?" He pointed to the last one which caused me to frown as well. %Check all that apply: Caucasion, Hispanic, Asian-American, African-American, Mutant, Non-Mutant.% "Didn't think that was any of your business. But for your information I'm Irish/German."

He smiled wickedly at me. "Only the freaks live at the Xavier Institute, and if you don't complete this form truthfully, I'll have no choice but to ban you from extracurricular activities." I glared at him as I begrudgingly checked the box next to 'mutant'. "Welcome to Bayville High, Miss Williams." His words were icy and sarcastic as I exited the office glowering.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Just peachy."

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

She came storming outta the office and I looked back to see Principal Kelly stood a confident smirk on his face. "Guessing you met Kelly."

"Congratulations! Vanna tell him what his prize is." I followed her back out to the parking lot trailing by a few paces

"You gonna be allowed to try out?"

"I guess so." She shrugged as she opened her door. I waited while she leaned across and flipped the lock on the passenger side so that I could get in. I watched her as she banged her head off the steering wheel causing the horn to blast. "I need to get my mind off of this. Any place to have some fun around here?"

"There's the movie theater, a bowling alley, pool hall, ice cream parlor, the mall's just down the highway a stretch…"

"Just direct me to the ice cream." I nodded as she shifted the truck into gear and exited the parking lot.

* * *

I stood back watching Al pick her ice cream like a critic. The girl behind the counter turned from her cleaning and glared in recognition at me. "What can I get you, freak?" Al raised an eyebrow at the rudeness as I ordered letting it slide.

"Tub of cookies n' cream." She scooped it out and slammed it roughly on the counter top in front of me.

"Anything else?" She continued to scowl as Al jumped in.

"I'd like a milkshake with orange sherbet and some pineapple topping thrown in." ~_I hope she doesn't expect me to pay…I don't think I brought enough cash with me.~_ I reached into my pocket and felt a single bill and some spare change.

"That's a smoothie, we don't do smoothies."

"I thought the customer was always right? You do serve milkshakes, and that's what I ordered." Al smirked as the girl reluctantly started making her smoothie/shake.

"Three ninety-five." Before I could even react she had pulled out four ones and was paying. She dug in her pocket and came up with a penny which she tossed into the tip jar and pocketed the nickel change with a smirk as she sat down across from me in a booth.

"I could have paid for my own."

"Consider it payment for the ten cent tour."

"Expensive ten cents."

"Inflation." I glanced over at the still scowling girl at the counter.

"Here's a tip. Don't go around making enemies with all the cheerleaders. You'll have to put up with Becca Crooks and her goon squad later on during football season."

She shrugged it off. "Not my fault she was acting like a real soda-_jerk_." ~_She's either incredibly stupid or incredibly confident.~_

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Would that be the same penny you tipped with or is this gonna be an inflated penny?"

"She was a smart ass with me, she deserved a crappy tip. Lord knows I've gotten my share of bad tips." She poked at her smoothie/shake with a straw then decided it was drinkable. After she finished her sip she went right back to her question. "So what's on your mind?" ~_She's also persistent.~_

"Not much."

"Right…let me guess. Girl trouble?" She startled me with her forwardness. "You're as easy to read as my friend, Mark, back home. Both of you are cursedly girl shy."

"Old boyfriend?"

"No. Just a good…no, best guy-friend. Stop changing the subject." She took another sip of her shake as she rested her chin on a fist in thought. "So who's the lucky girl? Tabitha? Amara? Or someone I haven't met from the high school?"

"First off, none of the above. Secondly, I'm not crazy enough for Tabby, not good enough for Amara, and I don't talk to many girls at school. I hardly talk to the girls at the institute except for at dinner and in training."

"Verdicts in: guilty of girl shy and self-bashing. You need a confidence boost, besides you're talking to me."

"What are you, my shrink?"

"Hon, you wouldn't be able to afford me." She grinned as she poked at the shake some more. She burped and laughed at her self, causing me to give her a strange look. It wasn't one of those girly embarrassed giggles but one that a guy would have. "Sorry, not very girl-like of me. Then again, I'd have to kill myself if I acted like that." She jerked a thumb at Becca and laughed again.

"So tell me about yourself. I'm sure you've got some great qualities that you just don't let others know about."

"I'm really not that good at talking."

"Yeah, well, I'm not so hot of a listener either. But eventually we have to learn so we'll both get that outta the way here and now." She waited impatiently for me to start talking as I pushed the melted ice cream around the bowl. "Okay, so what do you like to do…other than football?"

"Used to ride dirt bikes a lot back home." She smiled and waved her hand for me to keep talking. "Horses too. Well, everyone in Kentucky rode horses."

She caught my lull and popped another question at me. "I rode dirt bikes and four wheelers in the cove too. Any good spots around here?"

"Used to be this great canyon, but they dammed it up and flooded it. There are some other areas too. Mostly though if we go on some kinda road trip, it's to the beach. You'll probably learn to surf like the rest of us."

"Sounds cool. Ever go water skiing? I'd love to try that sometime."

"No…but we've tried to talk Logan into it. Eventually we'll get him outnumbered or just bug him into it."

"Sounds like a plan, my man."

"So what about you? You know it's the newbie's job to spill their guts to everyone."

"Really? Since when?"

"As of…" I glanced at my watch and paused a few seconds. "…now." She laughed but started talking.

"Okay, you already know I'm a Mets fan, I play football, but I also play basketball and softball. When I'm hanging with my friends I like to go bowling, movies—action of course, swimming, pool halls, lots of stuff. We also do four-wheeling, dirt biking, horse back riding, paint balling, snowmobiling in the six months of winter that we get. Once went cow tipping outta pure boredom, of course they were Mark's own cows. What else? I worked in an ice cream parlor back home, that's why I'm acting all snooty with Miss Priss over there. Um, I play guitar on my own time, play clarinet in band. Do the whole student council, student government, newspaper, FBLA things. I think that wraps it up in a nut shell."

"That's a lot."

"Gets boring in a town where you don't dare drive over sixty for fear of killing some Amish in their horse and buggies. Heck, we'd try anything once, just for a change of pace. 

"This one time, we actually had tourists pull up to our softball game and ask us where they could find some Amish. They had a tour book and ev'rything! Who cares 'bout some dumb hicks who can't pay taxes?" She laughed and I couldn't help but laugh at the image of a couple of city slickers interested in seeing a farm.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I guess." She stood up and crossed to the door matter-of-factly dropping her cup into the trash while shooting Becca one last confident smirk. I had to jog to catch up with her as she got back into her truck.

"So are they planning to do anything at the institute. You know, one of the road trips you mentioned?"

"We'll probably do something this weekend. Most likely the beach. Last time we went four-wheeling…well, it wasn't good. Kitty got into an accident, well, you get the picture." She smiled as she turned on the ignition and frowned as the radio spit out static again.

"Stupid thing…" She banged it with her fist and it went in tune for a moment before going back to static. "Can you reach the CD case in the back? Damn it, I got this truck to play with the engine, not the radio." She sighed as she continued to fiddle with the knobs but gave it up as she turned it off.

I reached back and retrieved a bright orange case that was overflowing with CDs. "Um…what should I put in?"

"Don't care, whatever floats your boat. I like 'em all." I flipped through it and was amazed by all the different artists and styles. She had everything in there from rap to r&b to punk to rock to pop to country. There was even some Latin in there. I finally settled on Toby Keith's latest CD. She had one of those portable CD player setups so I hooked it up into the cassette player and got 'I Love This Bar' playing. "You like Toby, too?"

"Sure. The guy speaks his mind."

"Maybe you could take a lesson from him."

"I think that was a shot."

"No, just a small piece of free advice from your shrink."

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, this story is just what's going on at the institute while Rogue and Remy are living it up in New Orleans. Read my other stories to catch up on the Romy bit. The last one, Distance Heals All Wounds, is happening simultaneously. That might clear up some questions about the plot and such.


	6. Getting Some Things Off My Chest

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I sat Indian style on my bed with my laptop enjoying the breeze coming in through the balcony doors. The curtains billowed in like a pair of friendly ghosts as I typed away to Mark.

%DragonPride37: so whats it like

geetairgirl13: not bad…found ur twin

DragonPride37: o?

geetairgirl13: names sam and ur both wrecks around gurls

Dragon Pride 37: not true im cool round u

geetairgirl13: thats cuz im like a guy 

Dragon Pride 37: first guy i no with boobs :-P

geetairgirl13: shut up :-O

Dragon Pride 37: im not talking

geetairgirl13: then stop typing! :-D

Dragon Pride 37: sounds like u like it

geetairgirl13: its ok not home

DragonPride37: not home her w/o u either

geetairgirl13: suck up

DragonPride37: goin 4 fb up there

geetairgirl13: of course tryouts r fri

DragonPride37: same here good luck

geetairgirl13: wont need it :-D

DragonPride37: some1s smug

geetairgirl13: NEthing fun in the cove this weekend

DragonPride37: nope u?

geetairgirl13: might B goin 2 the beach

geetairgirl13: 4get the last time i was at the beach

DragonPride37: i dont ur dad took u fishing 4 ur 11th Bday%

I stopped typing and stared at Mark's last message. ~_That's right. I made myself forget 'cause I made myself forget my father.~_ I swallowed at the pain I felt in the back of my throat and was grateful there wasn't any water around.

%DragonPride37: u there?

geetairgirl13: yep

DragonPride37: sorry

geetairgirl13: 4 what?

DragonPride37: i know that dads a touchy subject

geetairgirl13: its cool i have a father just not a dad%

"Hey luv." I looked up to see Betsy walk in wearing a dark purple bikini. She dug through a dresser for a cover up and tossed one aside in disgust.

"Going some place?"

"The pool. You coming? It's super hot today." She settled for a pink one and tied the see-through skirt around her waist before grabbing a towel and throwing it around her shoulders.

"Sure why not." %geetairgirl13: mark i g2g byes

DragonPride37: K byes ;-) 

DragonPride37 has logged off.%

I closed the laptop but Betsy had already left. I dug in my dresser 'til I found my favorite swimming suit. I put on the tankini top and boy cut shorts and grabbed a t-shirt to throw on over top as a cover up. I found a towel, which I slung over my shoulders and headed into the hall.

* * *

****

ICEMAN

"Man I'm telling you that you don't stand a chance in a cannonball contest with me."

"Bobby my name _is_ CannonBall!"

"He's got you there, Icepick." I crossed my arms over my chest refusing to see the point in Sam's logic despite Ray's supporting him.

"We'll let Jubes judge."

"That's not fair. You two are practically dating." Roberto caught my trick immediately making me scowl.

"Then Amara."

"You two were _dating_. Come on Bobby, pick someone who'll be fair."

"Fine, fine, how about Kitty?" Sam, Roberto, and Ray all shrugged in agreement. Ray's jaw dropped though as he saw something behind me so I turned to see the group of girls getting ready to tan. "What's the big deal?"

"Check out the new girl. She's hot." I zeroed in on Allison and frowned as I watched her stretch. She had on a bright blue swimsuit and Sam was practically drooling.

"She's not that cute. Besides, she's just showing off."

"Didn't say she was cute, man. She's _hot_." He drew his eyes off her for a moment to look at Sam who was struggling to look anywhere but at the group of girls. "How about it Sammy?" He nudged him in the ribs bringing him back to earth.

"What?"

"Isn't Al hot?"

He shrugged as he glanced at the diving board. "We doing this contest or what?"

"Come on you can't tell me you don't think she's good looking."

"She's okay." I rolled my eyes.

"Forget it Ray, Sam doesn't think any girl is cute."

"Icepick, Kitty's the cute type. Al…she's the hot kind. Tall and filled out in all the right places if you know what I mean."

"Do you have to talk about the girls like they're a piece of meat?" Sam looked indignantly at Ray who ignored him. "And I do think some girls are cute."

"Oh, who then?"

"Well…um…" He stammered slightly as I backed him against a wall metaphorically.

I rolled my eyes. "Watch this guys." I started walking over towards Allison getting ready to push her in when she wasn't paying attention.

"Hey, you can't do that! You'll freeze her." I ignored Sam's outcry as I approached her.

"You're like actually going to swim?"

"Duh, that's what you do in a pool."

"But you'll like get all wet that way. And then your suit and hair will like get all yucky from the chlorine."

Allison rolled her eyes as she continued talking to Kitty who was floating on a pool raft. Without notice she waved her hand causing a wave of water to leave the pool and splash me in the face. "Don't even think about it Icy." She turned and glared at me then smiled. "You gotta remember that we're now in my element, so start watching your back." I fumed when I heard the other guys start laughing at my failed attempt to humiliate her. With one final smirk, she dove backwards into the water gracefully without even splashing Kitty who gave a sigh of relief.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I resurfaced at the edge of the pool and slicked my wet hair back enjoying the coolness of the water. ~_Who really cares about the chlorine messing with my hair or suit? That's what swimming's all about.~_ I folded my arms on the edge of the pool and watched a now sopping wet Bobby return to the group of guys completely humiliated. Sam shot me a thumbs up as Ray was doing his best not to roll on the ground laughing. Roberto simply smiled. ~_From what I've seen so far, he and Piotr are the quiet ones around here.~ _Of course they were all in swimming trunks so it was hard not to notice that all of 'em were pretty well toned. ~_Not bad, considerin' they're all juniors and sophmores. No, I am not thinking that, am I?~_ I shook my head of those thoughts but found 'em to be interrupted for me

As I watched a brown wolf like dog came running by the pool with a towel in its mouth with Jamie and Sarah in chase. "Rhane! Give me back my towel!"

"I'll get it for you Sarah." Jamie multiplied and surrounded Rhane who returned to her human form giggling. She had her hair pulled up in two pigtails and had on a Hawaiian floral print one-piece bathing suit.

I drew my attention away from the three younger students and turned to watch Bobby try and coerce Kitty into something. "Please, Kitty. We just want you to tell us who has the biggest splash."

"Like there's no way I'm letting you splash me."

"You won't get splashed."

"Yeah, right. Like I'm not that stupid. I know how you guys are." She pulled herself outta the pool and crossed over to where Piotr was sitting talking to Betsy at one of the lounge tables. She sat down in his lap and refused to move despite all of Bobby's pleading.

"Come on, you can stay right there. Just watch."

"Ask one of the other girls."

"The guys think it's fixed though if I ask Amara or Jubes."

"Like what's wrong with Allison?"

"She hates me." I smirked as I listened in to the not so discrete conversation.

"Imagine that. Like someone doesn't fall for Bobby's charms in an instant. Too bad she likes Sam over you." I frowned at the insinuation. ~_Okay, Sam's nice, but I do not like him. Well, I do, but only as a friend.~_

"Yeah, so she'll favor him in a competition. Come on Kitty, just judge it for us."

"Nope." She stuck out her tongue like a small child, stood up and went inside to the kitchen. Bobby turned back around and saw me floating at the edge. I quickly ducked back under the water and swam underwater into the deep end. I loved the feel of water surrounding me. It probably had to do with my mutation but it was like second nature and I know I didn't even feel the need to come back up for air. I was half tempted to stay down there to test my theory but decided it would be unwise because I might pass out or something on the bottom. 

I swam over to the pool ladder and climbed out. The guys were still arguing over how to hold a diving contest without a judge and I just shook my head. ~_Boys will be boys.~_ I squeezed the water from my hair and went to find my towel. I wrapped it around my waist like a wrap around skirt and was about to go inside to make some tea.

"Hey, wait up." I turned to see Sam and waited. "They can't make up their minds and I'm getting tired waiting."

"Well, I'm glad to be your back up plan." He frowned in confusion causing me to laugh. "It's cool. I was gonna go see if they have enough sugar in this place for a decent pitcher of sweet tea." He raised an eyebrow at the mention of the good stuff and smiled as well.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I found a pitcher while she dug through the pantry for the iced tea mix and sugar. Kitty was already in there pouring herself a glass of lemonade and shot us one of her 'aww' looks. "Like I think it's totally cool how well you two get along already."

"Why?" Al stood back up straight with the tea mix in hand while I filled the pitcher up with water and ice cubes.

"Oh, well, like Sam is totally girl shy so it's nice to see him actually flirt for once." I stiffened and dropped the pitcher but the water and ice hung in mid air while the pitcher bounced off the ground.

"Hey, watch it there." The water moved through the air and dropped down into the sink while Kitty snickered then oohed and awed.

"That was like totally cool. You like got some pretty good control, huh?" Al shrugged as she set the containers of sugar and tea down on the counter and took over my job of getting a pitcher. "And like totally obvious." I frowned as I stood back and let Al just finish the job figuring too many more comments from Kitty and I'd be dropping a whole lot more than a pitcher.

Al put in three scoops of sugar then frowned as she stirred. She then added another three. When she glanced back in the sugar container she shrugged and dumped the rest in. "Like, got enough sugar there?"

"I hope so. There wasn't very much in here." She poured a glass out and took a sip and smiled. "Just right." 

Kitty was in shock at the amount of sugar used in one pitcher of tea and made it known. "It's like totally a good thing you're not Pietro, or you'd be like totally up the walls by now."

"Who's Pietro?"

"One of the Brotherhood. They're our mortal enemies for one, second they're jerks…"

"And third, they're like totally annoying. Especially Pietro. He thinks just because he's like super fast that he's like totally the best too."

"Oh, okay. So where are they hanging out? Some secret lair."

"No, a boarding house down town where their leader, Mystique puts them up."

"Alright, Mystique and Brotherhood—baddies. Got it."

"Oh like it's not just them. There's like Magneto and Apocalypse too."

"Okay. So what happened to all of these people as children to make them so evil and hate the world?"

"Mystique we haven't got a clue. Apocalypse was the first mutant and just wants to make the whole world mutant. And Magneto got it bad during World War II. Not only did they hate Jews, but mutants as well."

"Ouch." She took another thoughtful sip as she let the information sink in. "Well, lucky us. We ended up turning into mutants simply because of our raging teenage years." She leaned back against the counter while I helped myself to a glass.

"Hey, this is good. Where'd you learn to make sweet tea like this?"

"My dad." She didn't add anymore information there but I decided it was time I take a page outta her book.

"You haven't talked much about your family. What are they like?"

"Yeah, like come on and spill already. Do you have a cute brother or something?"

"I though you were dating Piotr?"

"Well, I can ask can't I?"

Al rolled her eyes. "It'd take me a week to tell you about my whole family. I'm related to ev'ryone in the Cove, literally. Well, as far as immediates, there's my mom, my gram, my aunt, and two cuzs. My cuz Lori, she moved to Virginia, and Jeremiah just does his own thing. So it's pretty much me, my mom, Gram and Aunt Vicky."

"You like just mentioned your dad though." I watched as Al's eyes flashed a bright blue briefly then went back to their normal steel green shade.

"I haven't seen him since I was eleven. Didn't bother to call me on my twelfth birthday and haven't heard from him since."

"Oh." Kitty's voice was as tiny as a mouse, which is kinda ironic.

"He used to take me fishing on the Chesapeake and all sorts of stuff. Taught me to ride a motorcycle, hunt with a bow and arrow…" She trailed off her eyes changing yet again to a misty blue as she set her glass down. "Excuse me." She practically ran outta the room causing Kitty and I to exchange looks.

"Was it like something I said?"

"Actually I think it was something she said."

* * *

****

HYDRA

~_I swore I wasn't going to cry anymore, at least not over that ass who I got blessed with as a father.~_ I had taken down the wedding album and was currently considering ripping up ev'ry picture inside up into itty bitty li'l pieces.

A knock at the door brought me outta my destructive thoughts and forced me to focus on something. "Come in." I tossed the album onto the floor and stood up to get the album with pictures of Mark and Kelly out.

Sam poked his head in through the slightly ajar door looking worried. "I just wanted to check on you. Um…if you want I'll come back another time."

"No…it's okay. I prolly look like shit." 

"No, the other girls would look worse. You know with mascara running, all that." He pushed the door open and sat down on the third bed nervously looking down at his hands with sudden interest.

"You know just how to make a girl feel better." I shot him a wry smile.

"Everyone's always saying that if something hurts to just talk about it. Personally I think it's a load of bull, but if you…" He looked up at me as I sat back down on my bed cross-legged with my other album.

"You prolly could care less." He shook his head emphatically and I sighed. ~_Prolly couldn't hurt to just get it off my chest. Someone here will eventually drag it outta me.~ _"My parents, they divorced when I was three. My father was a drunk and my mom didn't like it. It was the average divorce, my mom got me and my dad got a new wife." I laughed as if that should be funny, even though it wasn't in the slightest. 

"I got to visit my dad three or four times a year and had to put up with a step mother who hated me just for existing and two step brothers who became jealous of my father's attention. That was all when we lived in D.C. " 

I was gazing down at a picture of Mark and I on horseback and Kelly was standing between the two horses, her head thrown back in laughter. I forced a smile at the memory. "Eventually my mom decided to move back to her home town so that we could be near my gram after my pappy died. That's when my dad stopped calling and even stopped seeing me. It's stupid really, but it's basic abandonment." I scoffed again at my own stupidity.

"It's not stupid. It sucks, your father doesn't know what he missed out on." Without me even noticing it he'd picked up my parents' wedding album and was looking at it. When I did, I was upset at first then just shrugged it off.

"I look like him, huh?"

"A little."

"I act like him too. I'll prolly start acting like a total ass here and abandon my friends for no reason."

"Just 'cause you look like someone doesn't mean you'll act like them."

"I guess you're right. God, I better pull myself together or I'll have to have this whole conversation over again with Betsy."

"I'll go then."

"Thanks." He nodded and disappeared out the door.


	7. Stepping Up To The Plate

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I stood on the sidelines of the football field scowling as I watched the fifty some guys run plays and basically try and kick each other's ass. The coach didn't seem any where near anxious to see if this girl stood a chance against his guys. Of course he was having the returning lettermen beat up on the juniors like Sam who were now trying out. Surprisingly, Sam was fast and was dodging just about every attempt by someone to tackle him. ~_The coach is going to need a seriously good reason to keep him back on JV. He's got a spot. Now, if I could only get a chance to strut my stuff.~_

"You girl, what were you trying out for again?" I pretended to ignore him waiting for him to talk to me half-decently. "I'm talking to you Williams."

"Oh, li'l ol' me?" He frowned at my attitude but I'd already had it up to here and back with him ignoring me for the past hour and a half. I walked up to him and put on my most gruff attitude. "Kicker, _sir_."

"Played before?" He looked at me questioningly and I restrained myself from rolling my eyes.

"Yes, _sir_. Played for Central High in Pennsylvania State playoff game." I had a hard time not laughing at my own military tone.

"So you're that Williams." I smirked slightly. "Well, let's see if you're as good as I've heard." He turned away from me to the other players on the field. "Get ready for a field goal on the forty yard line." I gulped. ~_Forty! I haven't even had a chance to warm up even a li'l!~_ "Something wrong, Williams?"

"No, _sir_." I jogged out onto the field and prepared for the play. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the coach whisper something into the ear of another senior player. I gritted my teeth in seething anger. 

I became immersed into the action as I watched the ball flicked back and another player set it up for me to kick. I ran forward and sent the ball flying more than the forty necessary yards and between the two poles with a smile. Next thing I knew I was eating dirt with some guy who weighed nearly three hundred pounds on top of me.

The weight lifted off of me and I heard some snickers. I groaned under my breath as I pushed myself back up. There were a few astonished gasps at the fact that I was still moving and the fact that I'd just kicked the football into the scoreboard. ~_Phew, I was afraid that was going to hook on me.~_ I grimaced slightly at the pain in my back but made sure not to make to big of a deal out of it.

"That was amazing, Al." I looked at Sam as I pulled the helmet off and slapped the side of it to knock the dirt outta it.

"Lucky."

"Whatever, you could have kicked a sixty yard field goal if he'd asked you." I glared at the linebacker who had tackled me who was getting ribbed by a few other players for not being able to decommission a girl.

"You've been doing pretty hot…I mean good, too." He shrugged noncommittally. "Besides, sixty yards is pretty extreme."

"I'll have the spots posted next week next to the gym. Now get outta here." I yanked off the jersey they'd given us to wear in the tryouts and shook my hair free from the scrunchi it'd been in.

"Well, that could have been worse." I stood next to the bleachers and set to work unlacing the shoulder pads. A couple of guys were staring as I worked it loose and removed it to reveal the wife beater I'd been wearing underneath. Sam was standing next to me pacing impatiently as I shot the peekers a death glare. They started whispering as I growled and started back to my truck.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I tossed my gear into the bed of her truck while she dropped the back gate down. She jumped up onto it and sat there taking off her cleats. I jumped up next to her and did the same. "Think we stand a shot."

"Sure, just as good as any of those other guys." She frowned as some of 'those other guys' entered the parking lot and stared at her. "Freaks, you'd think they'd have something better to do then stare at a girl in a wife beater."

I smiled as she chucked the cleats into her bag and got back down. She got into the front and started pumping some music through her cd player. "Still haven't fixed the radio?"

{And I'd give up forever to touch you, 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow, You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be, And I don't want to go home right now}

"No, haven't had time to really mess with all that wiring yet. I'm afraid once I start, that it'll turn into a bigger job then I want right now."

{And all I can taste is this moment, And all I can breathe is your life, 'Cause sooner or later it's over, I just don't want to miss you tonight, And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand}

"You could always get Logan to do it, or even Scott." I hopped down and slammed the gate shut and moved towards the front as well.

{When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am, And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming, Or the moment of truth in your lies}

"How hard did you get hit in there?"

"Not that hard. Why?" She started the engine up and pulled outta the parking lot but not after scaring a couple guys into diving to the side first. I heard a few comments about 'women drivers' as we passed.

{When everything feels like the movies, And you bleed just to know you're alive, And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand}

"Well, for some reason you're thinking I'd ask someone for help when I'm capable of doing something myself."

"Stupid me." I sighed as I leaned back in the seat and waited to get back to the institute.

{When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am, And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand, When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am}

"You mentioned going to the beach this weekend. That still happening? 'Cause nobody tells me anything."

{And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand, When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am}

"Sure, I guess so. Don't worry, nobody tells me much either. Besides, at the institute, everything just kinda happens and you have to just go with the flow."

{I just want you to know who I am, I just want you to know who I am, I just want you to know who I am}

"Sounds like my way of being."

* * *

****

SHADOWCAT

"They're like totally cute together." I was talking to Betsy at the counter in the kitchen while watching Allison and Sam outta the corner of my eye. They were sitting over a sports magazine talking and looked absolutely adorable.

"Right…"

"Come on you're like her room mate. You can't tell me that she hasn't like mentioned him or something." I nudged her in the ribs hoping for some sign of a relationship.

"Other than saying she was giving him a ride to and from tryouts yesterday, nope, nada, nothing."

"Ugh, she's like the most confident girl I've ever met, and she like has no clue when a guy is digging her. I don't even think she knows how to flirt. We're like totally going to have to work on her."

"Can't you just let someone be?"

"Like no way. Hooking people up is like way more fun than watching them avoid the topic." She groaned as she sat down across from them. I frowned then decided now was as good as time as ever to start the 'hooking up'.

I sat down with them and smiled but neither of them looked up from the magazine. "So like what are you reading?"

"Sports Illustrated." They both answered at one time and Allison laughed.

"Jinx!" Sam grumbled something and flipped the page. "You owe me a soda, now."

"Right, fine, whatever."

"That is like totally cute how you two answered at the same time." They both tore their attention off the magazine to glare at me. "What, can I help it that you two make such a cute couple?" Allison hastily stood up and moved to the counter for a glass of water.

"Betsy, how much sugar has she had today?"

"Quite a bit, luv."

"That's like not true. I only had a glass of that tea in there." Sam and her exchanged looks and both of them laughed.

"Kitty, that's sweet tea. Al's been keeping a pitcher of it handy constant for a few days now." My mouth formed a little 'o' in surprise.

"Like it was a little too sweet for my taste."

"You just don't know what the good stuff is." Allison sat back down at the table but was now a good distance away from Sam although she still sat in the same chair. ~_Darn, that's not supposed to happen.~_

*Bamf! "Are ja guys going to ze beach or vhat?"

I looked up at Kurt in shock as he stood in the middle of the kitchen in board shorts and a t-shirt. "Oh my gosh, I like totally forgot." I jumped up knocking over my chair and ran upstairs to change quickly.

* * *

****

PSYLOCKE

"Come on, we better change as well, luv. They're not a patient group." Kurt rolled his eyes and bamfed back out leaving behind his sulfur fumes.

Allison pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded. "Gladly."

We were on our way up the stairs before she spoke again without sounding nasally. "Why is Kitty so insistent about me and Sam? I hardly know him."

"That's just Kitty. She like to play matchmaker so watch out."

"Thanks for the warning."

I dug in my dresser and found my favorite purple bikini and cover up and went into our small bathroom to change. When I came back out, Allison already had on an electric blue tankini top with black stripes running up the sides and a pair of matching boy cut shorts. She was digging through her dresser and pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a baggy tee as a cover up. I sighed realizing she just wasn't into the fashion end of the beach, let alone the tanning part. We both grabbed our towels and headed down to the garage to meet the others.

Kurt had a boogie board in hand and was probably the most anxious to leave. Scott was frowning at the equation before him. His car plus the Hummer equaled room for ten. There were seventeen of us however which posed a slight problem transportation wise.

"Great, now how do ve all go?"

"I could take my truck."

"It's only got room for two though." Everyone frowned at Scott's stupidity. Everyone knows you can cram a dozen people into the bed of one if you wanted to.

"People could ride in the back of it."

"That's not safe, Allison." She glared at him for using her real name.

"Look, how far is it? I mean, what could happen?"

"She'z right, it'z only a few milez." Scott continued to frown as he turned it over in his head.

"Alright, but I don't like it. So if something happens…" Nobody heard the rest of what he had to say since everyone was now arguing over who got to ride in the truck.

"I claimed it first!"

"No way, you ride with Scott and Jeannie."

"Ugh, not me." Allison simply got into her truck and waited until no one else was left standing in the garage before moving her truck out.

* * *

****

ICEMAN

"This is the life." I straddled my surfboard and waited for the next decent wave. Sam and Ray were out there with me as I looked back at the girls sunning on the beach. Of course there was one girl who wasn't and was paddling out on a surfboard to join us. "Ugh, what does she want?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm guessing she wants to surf, same as us."

"Well, I didn't invite her."

"Chill out Icepick, she's allowed to surf if she wants to."

"Hey guys." She was sitting on her board looking smug with herself as she floated nearby.

"Hey yourself." I steadied myself and rode the next wave in. ~_Stupid girl, always trying to hang out with us.~_

She came in on the next wave and looked slightly abashed. "Hey, if you've got a problem with me, just come out and say so instead of acting like some macho meat head."

"I've got a problem with girls who think they're more than they really are."

"So you've got a problem with the fact that I can play ball, and surf and do other things rather than lay around and tan." She pointed to the rest of the girls who as if on cue turned over to bake their backs. I chose not to answer as I paddled back out. "Hey, I was talking to you!"

"Can't you take a hint?" She glared at me as she pulled her board up along side mine. "I don't like you. Maybe you've got problems dealing with the fact that someone doesn't like you."

"Hey it's cool that you might not like me, but I think that's because you think I don't like you. It's not that I don't like you. I've just got to be careful so I don't end up as a stiff or something." She frowned as if she wasn't expecting me to say that.

"Hasn't a thing to do with that."

"Ray's sitting this wave out." Sam came up as well and sat there looking puzzled at the tension between Allison and me. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope, not a thing." I shot her a glare and waited in silence. Allison just shrugged as the next wave and we all prepared to ride it. The wave was rather large considering and we got pulled into a cove a bit off from the others.

I picked up my board and started the walk back towards the stretch of beach we'd started from and kept a few paces ahead of Sam and Allison.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"What's his deal?" I quickly picked up my board and started to follow Bobby out of the cove we'd wound up in.

"He thinks I hate him or something."

"Do you?"

"No…it's just hard to get real friendly with someone who can freeze you in a heartbeat." She sighed as she ran her hand through her bangs nervously. "I don't think it's getting through to him though."

"Bobby can be kinda thick. Sometimes you just have to wait for him to figure things out in his own time."

"You know I can hear every word that the two of you are saying?" I sighed. ~_Bobby can be **extremely** thick.~_

"Er…guys, is it me? Or is tide coming in?" I looked in the same direction as Al to see that she was right, the tide was coming in and fast. Already our exit outta the cove was blocked. "Now what?"

"There's a cave up the side of that cliff a little ways. We can reach it." Bobby dropped his board and started running towards the cliff face. I shrugged and followed suit doing my best to scale the sheer rock.

Bobby got inside the cave first and watched Al and I progress up as well. He helped me in then turned away to watch the rising water as Allison reached the edge. I pulled her in as well and we watched the waters keep coming. "Shouldn't the water be stopping by now?"

I looked back into the inky blackness of the cave and frowned. "Hopefully there's another way outta here." I looked to Bobby but he just shrugged.

"Hey, I only saw it man, doesn't mean I know how to get out of it." Allison was still peering out the mouth of the cave at the water and jumped back as it reached the opening and began to come in.

"Not good." As the water continued to come in she pulled her hands back in fists and pushed them forward opening them as if she was pushing against something. The water formed a wave going back outta the cave and she held it back but sweat was beginning to bead on her forehead. "A li'l help here would be good."

I shot Bobby a glance and he shrugged. "What?!?!"

"ICE MAN!"

"Oh, right." He held his hands out and formed a wall of ice over the mouth of the cave. Allison's hands dropped to her sides and she wavered on her feet then collapsed. "Great, now we have a conked out girl and we're trapped."

"Shut up man and help me."

"Help you do what? Make her worse then she already is. I can't touch her." I propped her head up in my lap and prayed that she'd wake up and soon. The ice over Bobby's makeshift doorway continued to darken as the water rose up and over it.

"I think we're slightly trapped unless we can find another way outta here." Bobby took the hint and searched the back of the cave for another exit or something. I gently patted the side of Allison's face hoping to snap her out of her faint. After a few minutes her eyes fluttered open and she rolled over onto her side.

"God, what happened?"

"I think holding back the ocean, was a bit much for you."

"That's a no brainer. So now what?" She was looking at the darkened ice wall as she sat up on her own.

"Bobby's checking around. I'll be right back." I got up and looked in the back of the cave and found Bobby feeling the back walls. "Anything?"

"Nope. I think we might have to wait this one out or hope the others come looking."

"That could be an hour or more. I don't think there's enough air to wait out that long." He frowned and looked at the ceiling.

"I'm guessing we're only a few feet below the surface, we might be able to break out." We walked back towards the front where Allison still sat nursing her head.

"I can try, no guarantees though."

"Try what?"

"Breaking us out." I shot at the ceiling and fell back down with a splitting headache. I rubbed my temple as I stared at the ceiling of the cave. "Only a few feet he says."

"Well, it's a start. You made a crack."

I was about to try again when Allison grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Wait a crack's good enough."

"Yeah, and the sky's pink. How are we supposed to get out if it's only a crack."

"Simple science, Bobby. What does water do when it freezes?"

"Turn into ice, duh."

"That and it expands." She looked back up at the crack as if calculating something. "If I go into my water form and enter that crack, then you can freeze me. That should cause the rocks to break apart and fall. Be a lot easier then breaking Sam's skull."

I let what she said sink in then shook my head. "No way, you'd be stuck frozen and might get hurt when the rocks fall."

"I'll take that chance. If it gets two of you out then that's good enough for me. No point in all of us suffocating." She wasn't taking no for an answer and carefully climbed the wall of the cave. She reached out precariously and placed her hand on the crack and melted into it.

"You can't do it, Bobby."

"I have to."

"I'll try again. If she's frozen then she could get seriously hurt."

"Look, that's her decision." Before I could stop him either he began freezing the crack. As I watched, it expanded and the rock began to crumble away. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the cave away from the falling rocks.

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The song is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. He he on the cliffhanger.


	8. In Need Of A Hero

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

"Er…guys, is it me? Or is tide coming in?" I looked out over the water that seemed to be moving steadily closer to us. Already a foot of water blocked the exit to the cove and by the time we reached it, it would be impassible. "Now what?"

"There's a cave up the side of that cliff a little ways. We can reach it." Bobby dropped his board and started running towards the cliff face. I ran behind him next to Sam and struggled for a hold on the sheer rock face. It was covered in moss and seaweed making climbing difficult. ~_That's not good, that means the water comes up this high.~_

Bobby got inside the cave first and watched and helped Sam in then disappeared outta sight. I reached the edge of the cave and Sam helped pull me in. "Shouldn't the water be stopping by now?"

Sam gazed back into the cave and frowned. "Hopefully there's another way outta here." Bobby only shrugged in response.

"Hey, I only saw it man, doesn't mean I know how to get out of it." I looked down at the water that was slowly rising up to us praying it would stop but realized that was a dumb thing to think considering the inside of the cave was also covered in moss and seaweed. I jumped back as the water began to spill into the cave at my feet.

{I can hear heaven, No heaven, no heaven don't hear me here, And they say that a hero could save us, I'm not going to stand here and wait}

~_Why am I thinking about some dumb song right now?~ _"Not good." The water continued to pour into the cave and I prayed I'd have enough power to hold it back for at least a li'l while. I formed my hands into fists and made a pushing motion. It strained every muscle in my body as I pushed against the force of the ocean tide but it swelled back and I held it out. "A li'l help here would be good."

{I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles, Watch as they all fly away, Someone told me love will all save us, But how can that be?}

"What?!?!" I didn't look back to see what they were doing as sweat began to form on my forehead from the strain.

{Look what love gave us, A world full of killing and blood spilling, That would never have came, And they say that a hero would save us}

"ICE MAN!"

{I'm not going to stand here and wait, I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles, Watch as they all fly away}

"Oh, right." An ice wall began to form and held the water out. I felt dizzy as I let my hands drop and everything went black. 

I felt something slapping my face and kept my eyes squeezed shut hoping it wasn't water. ~_Duh, it's not that. You can't feel water, it just absorbs into you. Besides, I don't that I can drown now.~_ I slowly opened my eyes and stared straight up at Sam and quickly rolled outta his lap so he couldn't see me blush. ~_How'd I end up in that position?~_

"God, what happened?"

"I think holding back the ocean, was a bit much for you."

"That's a no brainer. So now what?" I sat up and tucked my knees beneath my chin as I looked at the icy wall that had grown dark from the water rising up over it.

"Bobby's checking around. I'll be right back." He stood up and left me to nurse the headache brewing in my temples. I frowned as I continued to watch the wall for any signs of leaking. Luckily there were none.

"I can try, no guarantees though."

"Try what?" I looked up at the two of them who were examining the ceiling to our self made prison.

"Breaking us out." Sam shot up at the ceiling just like a cannonball shot outta a cannon. ~_Well, that would explain the name.~ _He landed hard on his back side oh so not gracefully and began rubbing his head as well. "Only a few feet he says." ~_Bet that hurt more than just the pride.~_

"Well, it's a start. You made a crack." Bobby's words clicked and I jumped to my feet.

{And now that the world is at an ending, It's not that I'm standing to you, Is in the love of a hero, And that's why I fear it won't do}

Sam was about to try another shot at the ceiling but I grabbed his arm before he could. "Wait a crack's good enough."

{And they say that a hero would save us, I'm not going to stand here and wait, I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles, Watch as they all fly away}

"Yeah, and the sky's pink. How are we supposed to get out if it's only a crack." I glared at Bobby and he swallowed his sarcastic words whole.

{And they're watching us (they're watching us), They're watching us (watching us) as we all fly away,   
And they're watching us (they're watching us), They're watching us (watching us)as we all fly away (yeah)}  
"Simple science, Bobby. What does water do when it freezes?"

"Turn into ice, duh." He shrugged his shoulders as he waited for me to let Sam go at it again.

{Yeah and they're watching us (they're watching us), They're watching us (they're watching us) as we all fly away, Yeah yeah whoa whoa}

"That and it expands." I looked up at the crack and thought it through again. "If I go into my water form and enter that crack, then you can freeze me. That should cause the rocks to break apart and fall. Be a lot easier then breaking Sam's skull."

Sam shook his head emphatically. "No way, you'd be stuck frozen and might get hurt when the rocks fall."

"I'll take that chance. If it gets two of you out then that's good enough for me. No point in all of us suffocating." I carefully scaled the wall of the cave and reached out to touch the crack with my right hand. I closed my eyes in concentration and melted into it.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I'd pulled Bobby and I away just in time so that we didn't get smashed to smithereens. I covered my eyes for a moment 'til some of the dust cleared and looked at the rubble, then realized I could really see it because there was light pouring down from a hole above. "She did it."

"Yeah, yeah, my hero."

"Seriously, Bobby, she is our hero." I stood up and looked for her but realized I couldn't see her. That's when panic set in. "She must be buried." I moved forward and started moving the rocks aside trying to find her. Eventually Bobby did the same muttering under his breath the whole time.

As I pushed on rock aside, I saw a pale hand and my heart skipped a beat. "Bobby, over here." I moved the rocks away more furiously and was able to reveal her head and upper body. I tried to get a pulse but there was none. "She not breathing or anything."

"That's because she's frozen, dim wit." I frowned as we continued to work until we had completely uncovered her. "She's uncovered, happy now? I'm going." He formed one of his ice slides up out of the whole leaving me alone. I groaned realizing that there was no way I was going to be able to carry her back to the beach. I knelt down and picked her up beneath the arms and shuddered. ~_It's like handling a block of ice, literally.~_

I shot up through the whole and landed unceremoniously near Bobby. I placed her back down and rubbed my hands together trying to warm them up. "I'm not going to be able to carry her that far. I'll have frost bite." 

"Well, what do you want me to do?" I was starting to get tired of his sarcasm and racked my brain for a plan. ~_Why couldn't Scott be the one in charge here?~_

"You walk back to the beach and get the others to help, I'll stay here." He nodded and started down along the path going off the cliff. In the distance I could see the others still sunning and playing beach volleyball. I sat down next to her stiff form and watched the waves splash up against the cliff face causing a spray up where we were. ~_What have I gotten myself into?~_

* * *

****

NIGHTCRAWLER

"Come on, ve need more players."

"Like, I'm not going to dive around in the sand, Kurt."

"Vhat about ja, Betsy?"

"Nope, I'm quite comfortable where I am. Why don't you ask Allison, luv?"

"She'z not here. And neizer are Bobby and Sam." Betsy looked up at me surprised.

"Wonder where they went."

"Zey vere surfing earlier." She propped he self up on her elbows and looked out over ze water to see zat zere vas no one surfing any more. Ozer zan ze volleyball game, only Rhane, Jamie and Sarah vere playing frisbee.

"GUYS!" Bobby came running over and bent over double trying to catch his breath. "Al's hurt…frozen…cave…tide coming…trapped."

"Like take a deep breath and like try again, Bobby."

He did so and stood back up fear in hiz eyes. "The tide was coming and we went into this cave. We got trapped and Al saved us, but now she's frozen. She's back there now with Sam." He pointed to ze direction he'd come running from.

"Vhat are ve vaiting for?" I bounded off after Bobby and Kitty and Betsy quickly got up and followed.

"This way." He led us up a steep slope to ze top of a cliff and once we crested ze top ve could see Sam sitting there vith Al's still form. "She hasn't moved a bit. She could be hurt."

"Ve've got to get her back to ze institute." Sam stood up and looked at us.

"You can't carry her back to the beach even. She's too cold." He showed me his hands zat vere a raw red color.

"I'll teleport zen." I picked her up and quickly teleported to ze beach. I nearly dropped her in surprise at how cold she really vas. I rubbed meine hands togezer to try and varm zem back up as Scott came running over.

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. She vas vith Bobby and Sam and somezing happened." I shrugged helplessly not knowing ze whole story myself.

He reached down to touch her then reared back at the coldness. He scratched his head in confusion as he searched for a plan. "We've got to get her back to the institute and quickly."

"Ja, I know." Jean came walking up and rolled her eyes at Scott's struggle. With a wave of her hand she lifted Allison into ze air and walked behind her floating form towards ze vehicles. She placed her into ze bed of her own truck and vaited for Scott to catch up. "I'll drive her back to ze institute."

"That's a good idea, I'll worry about getting the others back then. Jean you go with him." She nodded and got into the front of the truck with me as we rushed back to ze institute.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"Like you're still down here?" I looked up at Kitty in the doorway of the med lab weary eyed. "It's been two days. You like need to get some sleep."

"I'm fine."

"Like at least eat something. You like can't blame yourself for what's happened."

"Sure I can. If I would have kept trying or something, she wouldn't be like this." I looked back at Al who was still unconscious. Beast had hooked her up to various machines to track her heart rate and so forth. Everything was slowed and it was as if she was trying to come out of a coma.

"Like that's silly. She volunteered." I shook my head at Kitty's ignorance to the situation.

"Have you seen Bobby?"

"I passed him on my way down here. I thought he just visited." I shook my head confused. She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, try and get some sleep. No offense but you like look horrible."

"Gee thanks." She smiled and waved as she exited. I sat back in the chair and listened to the slow beeping of the heart monitor. ~_She should be getting better but she's just staying the same.~_ I ran a hand through my hair trying to fight off the sleep that was becoming overwhelming and finally gave in.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I slowly felt my senses kicking in. I could hear a beeping from all around me that was pounding like a hammer to my head. The next thing was I felt a prickling on my wrists. I slowly flexed my fingers and realized that I could now move again. I went to lift my hand to my head and brushed it up against something. I patted what felt like someone's head and stiffened. ~_Where am I?~_ I cracked open one eye and saw Sam fast asleep using the edge of my bed for a pillow. ~_Okay…this is a li'l odd. Where am I and what happened?~_ I yanked my hand away hoping I hadn't woken him.

I groaned at the pain that spread through my body when I tried to move into a more comfortable position. "I think I got hit by a Mac truck."

"Close." I looked back at Sam who was awake and rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked like shit and I was guessing he hadn't slept well for at least two nights. "More like a ton of rock."

I rubbed my head and tried to find some humor in my situation. "Oh, is that it?" 

He laughed lightly as he leaned back in his seat. "I guess I should go get Beast and tell him you're awake."

"Ev'ryone's prolly worried, huh?"

"Worried doesn't begin to describe it."

"Screwed up big time." I sighed as I tried moving again and found that it was getting to be slightly less painful. "So what do you make it a habit of watching girls sleep?"

He blushed a brilliant red and shook his head. "No…I was just worried. You weren't waking up and it's been two days…"

"Two Days!" He nodded and I sighed as I leaned my head back. ~_God that's a long time.~_ I ran a hand through my hair and frowned. "I highly doubt it'd be qualified as beauty sleep."

"Oh thank goodness you're awake." I looked at the door to see a large blue ape-like man. He rushed over to the side of my bed and began checking the instruments. "Hmm…heart rate's still a bit slow. Temperature is also quite low considering." I allowed my gaze to fall onto the instruments and nearly choked when I saw that my temperature was at eighty-eight degrees. ~_Ten whole freaking degrees lower than it's supposed to be!~_

"That's an understatement." He looked back at me and tried to give me a reasurring smile.

"We'll have to keep you a little longer, Allison. Just to make sure that you're healthy before we can let you go." I sighed in defeat realizing that those ten degrees were going to keep me locked up for a while. "Sam I'll have to ask you to go so Allison can rest some more. You can visit later." Sam nodded and went to the door waving quickly before exiting.

"So how much longer are we talking, doc?"

"A day or two maybe." I gulped and groaned at the prospect of the same white walls for forty-eight hours.

* * *

****

PSYLOCKE

"Like last night, when I went to check on Allison, Sam was still down there. Isn't it like absolutely adorable how he keeps watch over her?" I took another bite of my cereal and tried to ignore Kitty's mindless chatter. ~_She's seriously not going to give up on this one is she?~_

"I think you're making a bigger deal out of this then it really is, luv."

"Nonsense, I know these things. He totally digs her. Now all we have to do is get her to flirt back some and it's like a done deal." The door opened and Sam entered the kitchen looking slightly ruffled and like he'd just woken up. However he looked excited about something as well.

"Hey Sam, glad to see you're still alive." He grunted something as he started making a bowl of cereal. "I was only teasing, luv. You've been spending so much time in the med lab that no one sees you unless they're going down to check on Al."

"She's awake now." My eyes got wide at the news. It was now Tuesday morning, and had been nearly three days since the incident.

"Like that's great! Can we visit her?" Kitty looked excited at the news as well.

"Yeah, whenever Beast okays it. She's still not quite up to snuff though. Beast says she might have to stay a good bit longer."

"Well, we'll just have to keep her company." I picked up my bowl and dropped it into the sink and rinsed it out. "I'll go get some of her things from our room. That should keep her mind off the med lab some."

* * *

I went down to the med lab with one of her photo albums, a book that had a marker in it--_Eaters of the Dead_, and her portable CD player and case of CDs. "I thought you might like these." She looked down from the ceiling she'd been staring at and smiled.

"Hey Bets. Thanks. I could use something to look at other than this room."

"It's a bit dreary, isn't it?"

"You bet." She looked at the stack of stuff and grinned. "Thanks again."

"So how much longer do you think you'll be down here?"

She looked to the side at a machine and frowned. "At this rate, at least another day." I looked in the same direction and saw that she was looking at her temperature.

"Bobby's good at what he does."

"Is that ever true." She opened the album and glanced at the pictures inside.

"Who are they?"

"My friends from back home." She pointed to a tall muscular blonde boy in a football jersey in one picture. "That's Mark…" She flipped the page and pointed to a girl with long curly dark hair who was also quite tall and wearing a formal gown. "…and that's Kelly. These pictures are from the homecoming dance."

"Where are you?"

"I didn't go." I looked at her surprised.

"Why not?"

"Something about a football player in a dress just doesn't seem quite right." She laughed as she closed the album. "Thanks again."

"No problem. Well, I'll let you rest."

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The song I used was Nickleback's Hero.


	9. A Surprise Visitor

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

"I like totally can't believe you're going to be seventeen in two days!" I was in the living room with Kitty watching music videos on MTV2. She seemed shocked that a second MTV even existed.

The past month had been awesome, well, minus my time in the med lab. But i'd gotten out after another day of observation. It wasn't like going to a camp where you made new friends and then had to leave them behind to go back home. I was home now and was having a great time. I'd had some football practice and even gotten used to getting up at the crack of dawn for training sessions with 'Coach' Logan. On top of that, the professor had been doing extra sessions with me to help another trip to the med lab when I got to close to Bobby.

"It's not that big a deal. It's not like sweet sixteen or anything."

"No but it's your first birthday here at the institute, and if I have anything to do with it, it'll be like totally unforgettable!" ~_That's what I'm afraid of.~_

"Look Kitty, I'm not into big parties and stuff."

"Nonsense! Everyone loves a party. Besides it's a chance for us to doll you up and see if there's like a feminine side underneath that tough girl persona of yours." I frowned realizing it would take gagging and leaving Kitty bound in the Danger Room for the next few days to stop her from planning a party.

Just to be mean to her I flipped the channel over to ESPN to watch the endless scrolling of sports scores. She pouted but made no move to try and grab the remote back. "Just for that I'm like making the theme color pink." I scowled at her and flipped it on to VH1 and stood up and left. 

As I was walking through the front foyer to go back upstairs the doorbell rang causing me to stop. ~_I wonder who would be stopping by here?~_ Out of curiosity I decided to open the door instead of waiting for an adult to come around.

I'm sure my heart skipped at least a half dozen beats when I saw the familiar blonde hair and broad shouldered football player. "Oh my God! Mark!" I jumped at him giving him a bone-crushing hug as he simply laughed. I wasn't totally sure it was him except there was the farm truck parked only ten feet away proving this really was my friend. "What are you doing here?" I stepped back to look at him making sure he was real.í

"Thought I'd surprise you for your birthday."

"Consider me surprised. This is really great. I can introduce you to ev'ryone, and…this is just great!" I laughed at how corny I was sounding at the moment. "Come on." I took his hand and led him back to the living room, which had gotten a few more people in it.

Kitty didn't turn around and but somehow knew it was me. "Like you're not going to talk me out of a party Allison. I live for a party and…" She finally turned around and her mouth formed a li'l 'o' as she saw Mark. "I though you said you didn't have any cute brothers."

"He's not my brother." I rolled my eyes as ev'ryone else tore their attention off the television and whatever else they were doing to look as well. "This is Mark, my friend from back home." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam stiffen as he stopped talking to Bobby.

"It's like totally nice to meet you. The pictures of you do you like no justice. You're like totally hot. Watch it Al if you don't make a move, I might have to."

"Have you forgotten Piotr?" Piotr was sitting on the couch silently shaking his head at his girlfriend's antics. Mark would only smile though as he put an arm around my waist. I quickly moved free of it and took to introducing him to ev'ryone. 

"This is Kitty. She's a bit crazy." I spun my finger in circles around my ear to prove my point as Kitty pouted. I pointed to Piotr next. "That's Petey, her boyfriend. He's the quiet Russian. Sitting next to him is Betsy. She's my room mate." I led him around to where Sam, Bobby, and Ray were sitting and had been arguing over sports. "These are the guys, Sam, Bobby, Ray, and Roberto. They're cool. Sam's into football too."

"Really, what position?"

"Running back." Mark grinned as he nodded.

"You must be pretty fast then." Sam set his jaw as he nodded and I was thoroughly confused by the way he was acting. ~_Normally he's real cool, what's his deal now? Whatever.~_

I led him over to Jamie, Sarah, Rahne, and Roberto who were in the middle of a game of Monopoly. "That's Jamie and Sarah. They'll just be starting at the high school as freshman. Rahne and Roberto are going to be sophomores."

I next dragged him over to the other side of the living room where the girls sat staring 'Teen' magazines laying forgotten. "That's Amara, Tabitha, and Jubes. Amara and Tabby are going to be juniors and Jubes'll be a sophomore."

"A cool sophomore." She smiled prettily at Mark in what was supposed to be a flirting way. Mark missed it as I led him on. I caught her pout as we left and refrained from laughing.

"Last but not least, Scott, Jean and Kurt." I was grateful Kurt wasn't blue and fuzzy at the moment since I still hadn't gotten the nerve to tell Mark about my whole mutation thing.

"Hello." I restrained from gagging at Jean's flirty manner, which caused Mark to frown confused at her. ~_She's already got a boyfriend, yet she still flirts. Well, so does Kitty, but Kitty's harmless.~_

"Can I talk to you _alone_?" He brought me back out of my thoughts.

"Um…sure." I took him through the ballroom to the balcony that overlooked the grounds and part of the bay. "I kinda wanted to tell you something too, but you first."

He took a deep breath and avoided eye contact with me for a few moments causing me to wonder what had really brought him up here. "I'm not so great with words, so I'll try and be plain. I like you, Al, a lot." He looked back at me with a lot of self-doubt hovering in his eyes. To say the least I was caught off guard but not completely surprised. ~_Well, a guys doesn't kiss you for nothing.~_

"I like you too, Mark." He heaved a sigh of relief as he took my hands and his and leaned down to kiss me. I slowly backed away hoping not to hurt his feelings. I wasn't the kind of girl who jumped to making out and heck the only kiss I'd ever had was with him the day I left. "But there's something I need to tell you first."

He hesitated as fear creeping back into his eyes. "Okay, what?"

"Please, don't hate me."

"Nothing could make me hate you. What is it?"

"I'm different, Mark."

"I know that, that's why I like you."

"No, I mean _really _different. I'm a…a mutant." I looked away from him and waited for him to scream or something. Instead he did nothing but squeeze my hands tightly. I looked back cautiously and saw that he was about ready to laugh.

"That's it?"

"That's a lot, at least I thought so. I've been trying to figure out for a month how to tell you." He dropped one of my hands and cupped my cheek in his large weathered hand. I leaned into it slightly completely unsure of myself now. He leaned down and kissed me gently and pulled back so that he was only an inch away from my face.

"It doesn't matter. At least not to me." He closed the distance with another kiss and I moved my hands to around his neck pulling him closer. I could feel his hands on my waist as the slowly worked around to the small of my back.

I finally pulled back gasping for breath and shaking my head. "This'll never work."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I'm here and you're back home and then college and…it'll never work."

"We can make it work." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and gave me a warming smile. "Just sleep on it. I'll be here for a few days. I called and the Xavier guy said it would be okay for me to stay." I nodded numbly as I let this information sink in. ~_He'll be here for a li'l bit and I can just think. This is going to take a heck of a lot of thinking.~_

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I watched the two of them leave and buried my head in my hands. ~_Can somebody say strike two?~_ "I'm taking a walk."

"Ooo…somebody's jealous." I socked Bobby as hard as I could in the shoulder as I stood up.

"I'm not jealous. There's nothing to be jealous of." I did my best to act like nothing was wrong as I stormed outside and took a walk around the grounds. ~_Who was I kidding? There's always going to be another guy around the corner who's taller, better looking, nicer, so on. First Betsy and Warren, now I'm gonna lose any chance I might have had with Allison to this guy Mark.~ _

I sighed as I turned the corner of the mansion and came across the two of them on the ballroom balcony—kissing. ~_Going, going, gone.~_ I stuffed my hands back into my pockets and turned back the way I'd come feeling defeated. ~_Well, that would be the kick that comes after you're already down.~_

I walked back inside and went down into the lower levels to find the gym. I peeled off my denim jacket and started attacking the punching bag viscously trying to work off some of my frustration. I dropped down in defeat and drenched in sweat.

"Doing some extra training, bub?" I laid back and looked at the doorway to see an upside down Wolverine with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Maybe."

"Try using the gloves. It hurts less." He picked up the punching gloves and tossed them to me and they landed on my stomach. I realized what he was talking about when I noticed that nearly half my knuckles were cut and bleeding.

"Thanks."

"I don't do this often, but what's your problem?"

"I really like this girl, but I don't think she even realizes I exist." 

He raised an eyebrow and sighed. "I'm sorry I asked, but I did. I'm not the greatest in this category, but why don't you try talking to her."

"I do…all the time. I just don't think she sees me as anything other than a friend."

"Kicks, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"To everyone but her, I'm guessing." I groaned inwardly. ~_The guys will never let this go. Hell, I'm asking Logan for advice, I'm more screwed up then I thought.~ _"Well, good luck, kid."

"Thanks." I sat back up and put the gloves on and began a second attack on the punching bag. After another fifteen minutes of pure exertion, I gave up and grabbed my jacket and headed back to my room so that I could get a shower

* * *

****

SHADOWCAT

"Okay, we've got food, decorations, gifts, anything else?"

"Like we need music. How could we forget that?!?! Her birthday's tomorrow! Like what is she into?"

"I dunno. I think a little of everything, luv." We sat at the dining room table seeking a little bit of piece from the rest of the students as we tried to get together the finishing touches for Al's birthday party. "I've heard her listening to everything from punk to country.

I twisted my bangs around my finger trying to figure out what we'd do. "We could steal her CDs for the evening."

"She might notice that they're missing."

"We'll just like have to take a chance then. We can throw some of our stuff in too since she seems to…" I stopped talking as I watched the door to the kitchen open and Mark came walking in.

"She seems to what?" I made a slashing motion across my throat and she turned to see Mark poking in the fridge.

"Don't stop talking 'cause of me." He smiled as he popped open a can of soda and moved to sit down at the table with us. I let out a squeak as he picked up one of the lists we'd made. "Planning something?"

I grabbed the list back and frowned at him. "It's none of your business."

"You're planning a party for Al, right?"

"Sure thing, luv."

"Just don't play oldies, Britney types, and classical and you'll be okay."

"Thanks for the help, luv."

"No problem. Could you tell me where to find Al?"

"I think she's like tinkering with her truck in the garage. Something about the radio or was it the transmission?" I scratched my head trying to remember.

"I think the radio. Transmission and she wouldn't have made it to New York."

"Like right. I totally knew that." He laughed as he took his soda with him and left. "He's like soo cute. Do you think Allison will ever just admit she likes him?"

"I thought you were trying to fix her up with Sam." Betsy didn't seem to be paying much attention so it surprised me when she answered after scratching some stuff on another sheet of paper. She didn't look up at me as she spoke though. "Or have you given up that mission?"

"Like no way, there's still hope there."

"So why are you cheering for this Mark guy?"

"I dunno. Both Sam and Mark seem so cute and they both totally dig Al so…I forget why now." Betsy smirked as she continued to list party songs.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I was leaning over the engine of my truck with a pair of pliers and wire cutters as I messed with the radio. After a while I had it unconnected and reached for the rag to wipe the grease off my hands. "Don't hit your head." Of course I did then and rubbed my temple where I'd banged it off the hood, which had just banged back down.

"Hello, Mark. Why do you insist on jinxing me like that?" I sat in the passenger seat and carefully removed the radio from the dash. I carried it over and dropped it unceremoniously into a large garbage can.

"Making some alterations?"

"Yep."

"Need help?"

"Nope."

I opened a box holding a new radio/CD player system and carefully removed the precious system that had cost me an arm and a leg. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, should I?" I got back into the front seat and held the radio in place as I used a screwdriver to insert the various screws and such that would hold it in place.

"I just thought that after last night…"

"I'm confused, okay?" I moved back around and popped the hood back open and went to work reconnecting the wires.

"About what?"

"Ev'rything right now." He leaned in next to me as I finished and I ducked back out dropping the hood. He ducked back just in time chuckling.

"You're just the queen of subtlety."

"Yeah, I'm as subtle as an atomic bomb." I got in behind the wheel and turned on the ignition and smiled as the radio played beautifully. 

{So hold me when I'm here, Love me when I'm wrong, Hold me when I'm scared, And love me when I'm gone, Everything I am, And everything you need, I'll also be the one, You wanted me to be}

"Good work."

"As always." I retrieved the rag and wiped my hands off again relishing in my victory over the radio.

{I'll never let you down, Even if I could, I'd give up everything, If only for your good}

"I never figured out where you learned mechanics."

"I dunno, comes naturally." I shrugged as I got back in and prepared to turn off the engine again.

{So hold me when I'm here, Love me when I'm wrong, You can hold me when I'm scared, You won't always be there, So love me when I'm gone}

The lyrics died out as the engine died with the turn of the key. I jumped back out and tossed the rag over my shoulder into the trashcan without looking. "That puzzles me too."

"What?"

"The whole playing ball thing. You're too good." I smirked as I brushed past him.

"You're just jealous." As I exited the garage and pulled the door down the guys were passing. Bobby had a football in hand and was tossing it up into the air. "Hey guys."

"Hey, Al. You up for a game?" I was kinda surprised by the fact that Bobby asked but after the incident at the beach he'd been a lot nicer to me.

"Sure. Mark'll even things out."

"Yeah, but we're breaking up the dream team." It'll be me, Ray, and Sam versus you, Ray, and Mark."

"Just don't cry to hard when we kick your ass. So what are the rules?"

"No pads, no helmets, just balls. Got a problem with that, lady?" I growled at him as he snickered. "That and ten seconds before you can tackle the QB."

I nodded. "Okay, Mark cream his puny butt after the ten seconds, Roberto cover Ray and I'll take Sam."

"Blue forty-two, set hut!" Ray flicked the ball back to Bobby and Mark began the count down.

"One-mississippi, two mississippi…" Sam took off down the lawn and I gave chase. "nine-mississippi, ten…" Bobby chucked the ball down field towards Sam's general direction. I realized he'd catch it unless I could tackle him so in a flying leap I pinned his arms down and brought him crashing back down to earth.

* * *

****

PSYLOCKE

"Kitty I thought you were helping me?" She nodded absent-mindedly as she continued to stare out the window. "Alright what is so fascinating out there?"

"The guys are playing football."

"Since when were you into football, luv?"

"Since it looked like a make-out session." She was completely caught up in whatever was happening and I finally gave in and looked out as well. I was a little shocked to see Allison laying on top of Sam as a football fell to the ground nearby and had to shake my head to remove it from the gutter.

"That's just a tackle, luv."

"Looks like more to me."

"If you start looking at tackles that way, you're going to think all football players are gay." I shook my head and sat back down at the table to put the finishing touches on the party for tomorrow night. "So are you ready to hit the mall?"

"Like duh. Can I drive?"

"Nope." The pouted as I picked up the notepad with our shopping list and left.


	10. Where Are You Going?

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

SHADOWCAT

"Kitty, there's no reason for me to dress up just for Mark. It's dinner, for God's sake." I continued to dig through her closet in search of some decent party clothes. ~_Does this girl have anything other than sports stuff?~_ "I'm leaving, _now._"

"No! Five more minutes. If I don't find anything by then…" I looked back at the baggy paratrooper pants and t-shirt she was wearing and frowned. "…I'll find something." I shook my head as I dove back in to the closet. She was sitting on her bed huffing and puffing about how stupid this was but I ignored her. Betsy was downstairs putting together the last minute details and all I had to do was get her into party clothes. ~_She got the easy job.~_

I shouted with glee when I found a pair of hipster jeans. I tossed them over my shoulder at her and then started looking for a top. After a few minutes I found a normal looking shirt. It was one of those screen tees and said something about 'Kitty's housecleaning: _litter_ly the best'. I tossed that at her too and pushed her into the small bathroom that was attached.

"Gee, I wonder why you picked this t-shirt."

"Oh hush, and change." I dug through her hair accessories and frowned when I realized there was nothing but hair scrunchis. I sighed and phased through the wall into my room and grabbed something from my dresser top. It was a leather butterfly that you stuck a wooden pin through. 

When she came back out she tugged at the t-shirt and was frowning. "It's too small, Kit."

"Like no it isn't. That's how it's supposed to look. Now turn around." I was armed with a brush and the hair accessory causing her to groan. I put it in quickly realizing she had little or no patience.

"What are you doing to my head?"

"It's really cute. Like look." I handed her Betsy's hand mirror and helped her see it in the mirror. She sighed and nodded.

"Okay, am I free to go now?"

"Like sure. Let's get going." I led her down the main stairs and headed towards the ballroom and away from the kitchen.

"Kitty, I may be new, but I know the kitchen is the other way." I gulped inwardly as I thought on my feet.

"But we're like meeting the others this way." She sighed but followed. I phased through the ballroom doors and threw them open. 

"SURPRISE!" She stood stock still in the open door way gaping at the party before her.

"I told you no party…"

"Like I know, but you didn't honestly think we wouldn't. Come on there's cake, and food, and gifts, and music…"

{I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, Get this party started on a Saturday night, Everybody's waiting for me to arrive}

Kurt was doing an awesome job as DJ in the corner and shot me a thumbs up as he spun Al's stolen CD collection. "So that's what happened to my CDs."

{Sending out the message to all of my friends, We'll be looking flashy in my Mercedes Benz, I got lots of style, check my gold diamond rings, I can go for miles if you know what I mean}

"Like are you mad?"

"No. Thank you Kitty." She smiled as everyone came over to tell her happy birthday.

{I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, (I'm coming up, uh huh), I'm coming up, So you better get this party started}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I was surprised to say the least and was shocked that they had actually gone to all this trouble.

{Pumping up the volume, breaking down to the beat, Cruising through the west side, We'll be checking the scene, Boulevard is freaking as I'm coming up fast, I'll be burning rubber, you'll be kissing my ass, Pull up to the bumper, get out of the car, License plate says Stunner Number One Superstar}

"Happy Birthday, Ally." Mark came up and gave me a small peck on the cheek. I tried to duck away since I was still confused as to what I wanted in that whole boyfriend department.

{I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, (I'm coming up, uh huh), I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, Get this party started}

"Like come on and open your gifts." Kitty dragged me over to a table stacked high with gifts. I took down one of them and recognized the handwriting as my aunts. She had given me a new photo album and scrapbooking supplies. %For your new memories and friends.% 

{Making my connection as I enter the room, Everybody's chillin' as I set up the groove, Pumping up the volume with this brand new beat, Everybody's dancing and they're dancing for me, I'm your operator, you can call any time, I'll be your connection to the party line}

The next gift was from my grandmother and was a camera and film. I tore open the gift from Mom and squealed with glee when I saw it was 'Timeline' on DVD. The last gift that had been from home was from Kelly and it was one of those teddy bears that you stuff yourself and such. %I've got one too. Mine's Tuggles and yours is Tumbles, since you're the clutz.% 

{I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, (I'm coming up, uh huh), I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, (I'm coming up, uh huh), I'm coming up, So you better get this party started, Get this party started, Get this party started right now, Get this party started, Get this party started, Get this party started right now}

Mark handed me his next. It was the school yearbook and he'd gotten everyone to sign it for me. "Thank you." He nodded as the others began bombarding me with their gifts. From the guys I got a football. The girls gave me a CD by Santana. From the adults I received a cell phone and various gift cards for the local mall. "Thanks ev'ryone." I couldn't remember a birthday like this unless you counted last year when the guys from football had thrown me a party and threatened to bring in a stripper.

{So tight, so fly, You got me lifted, you got me lifted, You got me lifted shifted higher than a ceiling, And ooh wee it's the ultimate feeling, You got me lifted feeling so gifted, Sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly?}

Of course there was cake and ice cream and all that good stuff that went on as well. Kurt seemed to be having a good time running the music and eventually the adults left us kids to have a good time.

{You know its leather when we ride, Wood grain and raw hide, Doing what we do, watching screens getting high, Gurl you keep it so fly with you sweet hunnybuns, You was there when the money was gone, You'll be there when the money comes, Off top I cain't lie I love to get blowed, You my lil'sugar, I'm yo little chulo, And every time we kick it it's off to the groovy, Treat you like my sticky ickey or my sweet oowy goowy (fa real though)}

"Like come on I didn't plan this party for you to watch." Kitty dragged me out to the center of the room where ev'ryone was dancing already.

{You got me lifted shifted higher than a ceiling, And ooh wee it's the ultimate feeling, You got me lifted feeling so gifted, Sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Now I ain't worried about a thang cause I just hit me a lick, I got a fat sack and a superfly chick, That aint makin you a playa, Cause doowop, she fly like the planes in the air, That's right she's full grown settin the wrong tone, Im diggin the energy and im lovin the o-zone, So fly like a dove so fly like a raven, Quick to politic with some fly conversation, In a natural mood then im a natural dude, And we some natural fools blowin out by the pool, She like my sexy-coo mama with blades on her berata, Rockin Dolce' Gubbana with high-drows and a igwana, You got me lifted shifted higher than a ceiling, And ooh wee it's the ultimate feeling, You got me lifted feeling so gifted, Sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? You know its leather when we ride, Wood grain and raw hide, Doing what we do, watching screens getting high, Gurl you keep it so fly with you sweet hunnybuns, You was there when the money was gone, You'll be there when the money comes, You know its leather when we ride, Wood grain and raw hide, Doing what we do, watching screens getting high, Gurl you keep it so fly with you sweet hunnybuns, You was there when the money was gone, You'll be there when the money comes (fa real though), You got me lifted shifted higher than a ceiling, And ooh wee it's the ultimate feeling, You got me lifted feeling so gifted, Sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? Sugar sugar how you get so fly? So high like I'm a star, Feelin so high like I'm a star, Feelin so high like I'm a star, Feelin so high like I'm a star}

"Like for someone who doesn't party, you like sure can dance." I grinned as the next song came over. I'd never had so much fun dancing with my friends--Kitty, Betsy, Mark, Bobby, and Ray.

{What are you doing tonight, I wish I could be a fly on your wall, Are you really alone, Still in your dreams, Why can't I bring you into my life, What would it take to make you see that I'm alive}

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

{If I was invisible, Then I could just watch you in your room, If I was invisible, I'd make you mine tonight}

I stood along the wall and watched. I shook my head realizing I didn't stand a chance especially now that her friend Mark had showed up. ~_I guess I should be saying boyfriend. I really am invisible. Nobody notices the short geeky kid.~_

{If hearts were unbreakable, Then I can just tell you where I stand, I would be the smartest man, If I was invisible, Wait…I already am, I saw your face in the crowd, I called out your name, You don't hear a sound, I keep tracing your steps, Each move that you make, Wish I could be what goes through your mind, Wish you could touch me with the colors of your life}

"Like Sam, what are you doing over here? You should be like dancing."

"I don't dance." I shrugged as if that should be an answer.

{If I was invisible, Then I could just watch you in your room, If I was invisible, I'd make you mine tonight, If hearts were unbreakable, Then I can just tell you where I stand, I would be the smartest man, If I was invisible, Wait…I already am}

"Nonsense, everyone can dance. Come on I'll show you." Kitty grabbed my arm and dragged me out with the others and tried to help me but it was a hopeless cause. "You just have to sway with the music."

{I reach out, But you don't even see me, Even when I'm screaming, Baby, you don't hear me, I am nothing without you, Just a shadow passing through...}

I glanced over at Allison who was having a good time and shook my head.

{If I was invisible, Then I could just watch you in your room, If I was invisible, I'd make you mine tonight, If hearts were unbreakable, Then I can just tell you where I stand, I would be the smartest man, If I was invisible, Wait…I already am}

"I'm going…" Kitty tried to protest but I was already outside on the balcony and heading down the steps to the grounds.

{I never liked the rain until I walked through it with you, Every thunder cloud that came was one more I might not get through, On the darkest day there's always light and now I see it too, But I never liked the rain until I walked through it with you}

I was walking back in front of the balcony when I heard something above me. "Hey Romeo." I looked up to see Allison leaning on the railing. "What are you doing out here, the party's in there."

{I hear it falling in the night and filling up my mind, All the heaven's rivers come to light and I see it all unwind, I hear it talking through the trees and on the window pane, And when I hear it I just can't believe I never liked the rain}

"I could ask you the same thing." She laughed as she ran down the steps to catch up.

"I came looking for you. I didn't you dancing at all."  
{Like the rain I have fallen for you and I know just why you , Liked the rain always calling for you I'm falling for you now, Just like the rain}

It started drizzling outside and I stuffed my hands deeper into my pockets. I noticed she looked completely dry despite the rain. That's when I saw the rain drops actually moving away from her. "Think you can spread some of that sunshine?"

She grinned and nodded and suddenly I no longer felt the rain falling down on my shoulders. "So if you don't like getting wet, why are you out here?"

{When the cloud is rolling over thunder striking me, It's as bright as lightning and I wonder why I couldn't see}

"I can't dance."

"Nonsense, ev'ryone can dance."

{That it's always good and when the flood is gone we still remain, Guess I've known all along I just belong here with you falling}

"You've been hanging out with Kitty too much." She huffed as she yanked my arm to bring me to a stop.

"Look it's easy." She took my hands and placed them on her hips while she put her own around my neck. "If I can do it anyone can…now you just sway to the beat of the music."

{Like the rain I have fallen for you and I know just why you , Liked the rain always calling for you, I'm falling for you now, Just like the rain I have fallen for you, I'm falling for you know just like the rain}

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what are shrinks for?"

{And when the night falls on our better days, And we're looking to the sky, For the winds to take us high above the plains, I know that we'll find better ways to look into the eye, of the storms that will be calling, Forever we'll be falling}

"I really like this girl, but I don't know how to tell her."

"Well, then I guess you'll have to do something that's not very Sam-like."

"Yeah, what's that."

"Show her."

{Like the rain I have fallen for you, and I know just why you, Like the rain always calling for you, I'm falling for you now just,Like the rain I have fallen for you and I know just why you}

"Wait, you mean kiss her?" A slight panic rose in my voice and I quickly shut my trap before I said anything too damaging.

"Sure…I guess. I dunno, you're asking the wrong person."

{Like the rain always calling for you, I'm falling for you now just, Like the rain, Like the rain, Like the rain, Like the rain, Like the rain, Like the rain, Like the rain}

I took a deep breath and leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the lips before pulling back. She stood there in shock and didn't move. ~_I'm such an idiot.~_

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I'll just keep walking." I turned to walk away but she ran up behind me and kept in stride.

"No, I'm the clueless one here." She ran a hand through her hair but I barely caught the movement out of the corner of my eye as I stared at the ground. "Look…I…I haven't a clue what's going on anymore. Ev'rythings changing on me and well…I'm not sure if I'm ready for something else to change as well. We can still be friends and maybe once I figure some things out…" Her voice trailed off as she gazed out over the water in the bay. She sighed and sat down seemingly not caring that the grass was wet from the rain that continued to fall slowly still moving away from her and I.

"I got you this." I handed her a wrapped present I'd gotten when we'd gone shopping for the football.

"Thanks. I wonder what it is?" She smiled as she slid a finger under the wrapping that obviously covered a CD. She tore the paper off and smiled as she stood up. "Three Doors Down, one of my faves. Thanks." She leaned forward and placed a peck on my cheek causing me to blush. "You're a real sweetheart, hon." Her eyes sparkled a brilliant green which I'd never seen before.

She turned and walked away towards the ballroom balcony to go back inside. Once at the steps she stopped and waited for me to pull myself back together.

* * *

****

HYDRA

{Boom boom boom boom, I want you in my room, Let's spend the night together, From now until forever, Boom boom boom boom, I wanna do the boom, Let's spend the night together, Together in my room}

To say the least, Sam had caught me off guard. Hell, I was practically in shock. I didn't know what to tell him but I did realize that talking to him usually landed me on cloud nine. Although Mark had been my friend since about third grade, he was just that, a friend.

{Everybody get on down, The Vengaboys are back in town, This is what I wanna do, Let's have some fun, What I want is me and you, Boom boom boom boom, I want you in my room, Let's spend the night together, From now until forever, Boom boom boom boom, I wanna do the boom, Let's spend the night together, Together in my room}

I put the CD among my other gifts and smiled as Betsy fussed over me for going outside in the rain despite the fact that I was still bone dry. "Well, did you find him?"

"Duh, he's right there." I pointed towards Sam who was now talking with some of the other guys.

{Boom boom boom boom, I want you in my room, Let's spend the night together, From now until forever, Boom boom boom boom, I wanna do the boom, Let's spend the night together, Together in my room, Boom boom boom boom, I want you in my room, Let's spend the night together, From now until forever}

"Well?"

"Where's Betsy and what has Kitty done with her?"

"Sorry, that did sound a bit Kittyish. But come on you're not going to keep the goods from me."

"We talked, that's it." She looked slightly disappointed but smiled. 

{Everybody Dance now ...Everybody Dance now ...Give me the music, Give me the music, Everybody Dance now ...Everybody Dance now ...Yeah ... Yeah ... Yeah, Everybody Dance now ...Yeah ... Yeah ... Yeah, Everybody Dance now ...}  
"Hey, keep outta my head!"

"That's it and two kisses if I'm correct."

"Two pecks, get the story straight."

{Go, go, go, go, Go, go, go shawty, It's your birthday, We gon' party like it's yo birthday, We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday, And you know we don't give a fuck, It's not your birthday!}

"So you admit it." I realized she'd trapped me and groaned inwardly. "So, are you two a couple or what?"

"No. I'm not into dating right now. I've got a lot of stuff to sort out before I go there with anyone."

{Baby, turn around, And let me see that sexy body go, Bump, bump, bump, That is all I wanna see, Baby, show me, Baby, turn around, And let me see that sexy body go, Bump, bump, bump, The way you're throwin' that thing at me, I could it easy, baby}  
"Come on this is your party." She dragged me back out onto the dance floor.

{Is it worth it, let me work it, I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it, I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it, If you got a big let me search ya, To find out how hard I gotta work ya, I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it}

I glanced around and noticed that Sam had gravitated back to the wall and frowned. I noticed that Mark was watching as I crossed over to Sam and started talking to him.

{Yo, Shake that thing, Miss Kana Kana shake that thing, Yo, Annabella shake that thing, Miss Donna Donna, Yo Miss Jodi yu'r di one and Rebecca shake that thing, Yo shake that thing, Yo Joanna shake that thing, Yo Annabella shake that thing, Miss Kana Kana}

"What happened to trying to be sociable?" He shrugged as the next song started playing. I'd never noticed before, but his eyes were an awesome shade of blue. ~_Okay, stop that. You're now starting to sound like Kitty.~_

{Where are you going, With your long face pulling down, don't hide away, Like an ocean that you can't see but you can smell, And the sound of the waves crash down}

"Come on I need a dance partner." I took his hand in mine and shot him a smile. He followed reluctantly to the dance floor. He seemed less nervous and tense then during our dance outside.

{I am no superman, I have no reasons for you, And I am no hero, oh, that's for sure, But I do know one thing, Where you are is where I belong, I do know where you go, Is where I want to be}

I took a deep breath and crossed my fingers behind his back hoping I wouldn't end up scaring him off since he was being so skittish. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and leaned my head onto his shoulder.

{Where are you going? Where do you go? Are you looking for answers to questions under the stars? If along the way, You are grown weary you can rest with me until, A brighter day and you're okay}

Of course he tensed but he soon relaxed again as I kinda led him in small circles 'til he fell into the rhythm of the song and took over the lead himself.

{I am no superman, I have no answers for you, I am no hero, oh that's for sure, But I do know one thing, Where you are is where I belong, I do know where you go is where I want to be, Where are you going? Where do you go? Where do you go? Where are you going? Where do you go? I am no superman, I have no answers for you, I am no hero, oh, that's for sure, But I do know one thing, Where you are is where I belong, I do know where you go, Is where I want to be. Where are you going? Where do you go? Where are you going? Where? Let's go.}

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, here's the deal with Allison's eyes. They're kinda like a mood ring. Bright blue when she's pissed, steel blue when she's sad or slightly angry, steel green for average, and a bright green when she's really happy. I'm just saying it's a part of her mutation. What the hell. Although I'm telling you they're real too, I've got 'em.

Okay the list of songs…yeesh it's a long one:

Get The Party Started--Pink

Suga Suga--Baby Bash

Invisible--Clay Aiken

Like the Rain--Clint Black

Boom Boom Boom Boom--Vengaboys

Everybody Dance Now--?Sorry no clue?

In Da Club--50 Cent

Bump Bump Bump--B2K; P. Diddy

Work It--Missy Elliot

Get Busy--Sean Paul

Where Are You Going--Dave Matthews Band

Now For The Reviews:

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Lupine Draconis and Pomegranate Queen: Thanks for following this story too! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

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giveGodtheglory: Um…well…I have to admit she's probably so real because she's based on me. Write what you know, right? Well, thanks.

Thanks also to **Qwerty** and **Nie Starwhistler.**


	11. If One Sam's Good, Two Should Be Great

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

"Hey give 'em hell for me." I hugged Mark unwilling to see him leave again so soon.

"Don't worry. We'll make you proud." I gave him a half-hearted smile. He placed a hand on my cheek and tilted my face up. "He seems like a nice guy."

"Who, what?" I was thoroughly confused now.

"That Sam guy. He seems nice."

"Yeah…Sam."

"Look, I understand. Trust me I've been turned down enough times and at worse times too."

"Mark…it's not that…I just don't want a boyfriend right now."

"Hey it's cool. Just don't think you're getting off the hook with writing, hero."

"What?"

He indicated to the group of people behind me who weren't so subtle in their spying. "They told me about your heroics—how you saved Sam and Bobby."

"I'm no hero, far from it."

"Sure thing, Spanks."

"Look, get outta here before I have to beat it into your skull." He smirked as he got into his truck and drove off through the gates of the institute and outta sight. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and went back inside pushing my way through the other students and up the stairs.

I started putting my gifts away and realized that someone must have taken the liberty of using my camera last night. I smiled as I unloaded the used film and stuffed it into a bag to take into town later on. I popped in my new 3 Doors Down CD and flipped on 'Here Without You'.

{A hundred days had made me older since the last time that I saw your pretty face, A thousand lights had made me colder and I don't think I can look at this the same, But all the miles had separate, They disappeared now when I'm dreaming of your face}

~_Why does everything change? Why can't I just go through life and never have to readjust to changes? 'Cause it makes you stronger. That's what everyone says at least.~_

{I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind, I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time, I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams, And tonight it's only you and me}

I bit my lower lip remembering my conversation with Sam the evening before. ~_Did I make a huge mistake there? I might have just blasted any chance there to hell, the moon, and back.~_

{The miles just keep rolling as the people leave their way to say hello, I've heard this life is overrated but I hope that it gets better as we go}

I sat down on my bed and ran a hand through my hair mixing the blond, red, and brown strands together. ~_Kelly used to try and convince me that our pupils will dilate for two reason--one you're lying and two you're in love.~_ My pupils definitely weren't dilated but they had never been this bright a green. At least not since I'd been a li'l girl.

{I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind, I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time, I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams, And tonight girl it's only you and me}

~_It's been so hard for me to be happy these past years, but here, I've found happiness. Why? What's here that wasn't back home?~_

{Everything I know, and anywhere I go it gets hard but it won't take away my love, And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done it get hard but it won't take away my love}

Betsy came into our shared room and shut the door and leaned back against it. "You best go out there, I feel like we're being stalked and he's thinking pretty damn loud too."

{I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind, I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time, I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams, And tonight girl it's only you and me}

I raised an eyebrow and looked up at her as she went into the bathroom without another word to touch up her make up. ~_For a confident purple haired girl, she's got some paranoia.~_

{I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind, I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time, I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams, And tonight girl it's only you and me}

I opened the door and peered out to see Sam pacing up and down the hall. "Don't wear any holes in the carpet or anything." He stopped and smiled sheepishly back at me.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself. You got Betsy tweaking out in there. You wanted to talk or something?"

"Err…yeah. Think we could walk or something?"

"And what would be 'or something'?" I raised a teasing eyebrow as I walked along side him to the main stairs. 

We were about to go out the door when I heard a gruff voice from behind me. "Kicks, phone's for you." I stopped and wondered who would be calling me. ~_Mark just left, Mom wouldn't call until tomorrow and Kelly, she's not a phone person.~_

"We'll talk later, promise." Sam nodded as I ran up to Logan to get the portable phone.

* Hello, you've reached the Spanky hot line. *

* Sweetie, I need you to be serious. * ~_Oh God, it's Gram, it has to be. Dear God, I didn't get to say goodbye or anything.~_

* Mom, what's going on? * I took a deep breath praying she was just calling a day early.

* It's your father. He was here. *

* What! What was he doing there? *

* He came to see you…he was upset when I told him I enrolled you in a private school. *

* Did he hurt you? * There was a long pause on the other end and I could feel the panic rising. I had been to li'l to remember but my father had once beaten my mom so bad she'd ended up in the hospital. He'd never once laid a hand on me but still he always took out his anger on mom. * Mom, answer me. *

* I'm okay. Just a little bruised. *

* That asshole. Why I oughta… *

* I didn't raise you to talk like that. *

* Screw my raising and swearing. How bad did he hurt you? *

* Like I said, just a little bruised. *

* Did he bother Gram any? *

* No, he went to her place first because he didn't know where we lived and he found me there. He never talked to her. *

~_Well, there's a blessing in disguise._~ * Mom, you shouldn't let Gram stay at her house. Just in case. If he's drunk… *

* I know, she's staying with your aunt right now. *

* Oh, okay. *

* Look, I wanted to tell you that he saw a pamphlet for the Xavier Institute lying on your grandmother's dining room table. * The panic that I'd managed to shove out of my voice earlier for my mother's sake had returned.

* What! * ~_Oh shit, he's pissed, drunk and knows where to find me.~_ * Look don't worry about me, Mom. This place is too tough for the government to dream of getting in. *

* Yes, I'm sure. I just wanted you to be careful. Just in case. *

* Okay. I love you, Mom. *

* I love you too, Sweetie. Be good and be careful. *

* Always. * I hung up the phone and bit my lip hard and nearly drew blood. ~_The bastard…how dare he.~_

A hand on my shoulder brought me outta my thoughts as I glanced around to see Logan. "Something up, Kicks?"

"Just the sky and tall people." I smiled and tried to bury the conversation into the back of my mind. "I'm cool, really." There was a similar twitch at the corner of his mouth as the time I'd met him at the front door on my first day, but this time it seemed to be tugging out a frown. "I best be going, promised Sam a session with his shrink." I smiled again as I headed outside to find my buddy.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the bay and just took in the sight. On the other side of the bay I could make out the city of Bayville. I could make out the other kids hanging out by the pool and the mansion beyond them framed by the forest behind it yet. It all looked so normal if you didn't know that the people living in the enormous mansion were actually mutants with terrible powers that could be disastrous if used for the wrong purposes.

I enjoyed the quiet of being up here because it wasn't often you got peace in a house full of a dozen other kids who never seemed to come down off sugar highs. I leaned back on my hands and simply stared out at the setting sun causing the water to turn brilliant oranges and pinks.

"Hey Sam. If I remember correctly, I owe you a talk." Al sat down next to me and glanced out at the sunset as well but before I began trying to remember what I'd planned to tell her earlier I was caught off guard by the dark blue color of her eyes. It was troubling to see them that color and I immediately knew something in that phone call had upset her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're a crappy liar. I can tell by looking at your eyes that something's up." She blinked a few times and looked away from me trying to get them to change. "Now you want to tell me a different story?"

"Can you keep a secret…even from the professor?"

"Is that even possible?"

"I told you about my father…how he was a drunk." I nodded slowly as she continued to stare at the water. "That wasn't all of it. He hit my mom too but he never laid a hand on me. When I was really li'l he put her in the hospital once." She fell silent for a while as I tried to figure out why that had upset her now and what that might have to do with the phone call. "My mom just called. He was at my gram's place looking for me. When my mom told him I was away at a private school, he got angry and took it out on her."

"Is she okay?"

"She says she is. I dunno…she might not be telling me the truth so I don't go racing down there to check on her." She looked at me and I could see that her eyes were starting to brighten into that horrifying electric blue shade that could drive a stake of fear into even Logan's heart. "He knows I'm here. He doesn't know I'm a mutant nor that this is a school for mutants…but he knows I'm here."

"They won't let anything happen to you…I won't let anything happen to you." She laughed coldly.

"Sorry Sam, that's a sweet thought but there's not much you're going to be able to do when my father's in a good drunken rage." She sighed as she laid back her eyes slowly fading back to a steel blue. "There's not much anyone can do…"

"If you tell the professor…"

She cut me off with another cold laugh. "He'll lock me up inside and won't let me see the light of day. Either that or he'll make Logan my personal bodyguard. You know I won't put up with that. And don't forget you promised to keep this secret."

"I won't lie if they ask me."

"I guess I can live with that." She stood up and brushed off her jeans. "I feel bad, I came out here to help you with something and ended up spilling my guts."

"It's okay, I forgot what I wanted to tell you to start with." ~_I'm already lying to protect her. I don't have the heart to get all sappy on her when she's got troubles like that.~_

"Oh, okay. Catch you at dinner." She walked away but I couldn't forget the anger I'd just seen in her eyes.

* * *

ICEMAN 

"I have a mission for you. The Brotherhood seems to be causing some problems in the warehouse district. I need you to rectify the situation before any innocent civilians become involved or hurt." I was slightly surprised to see the people that the professor had called into the planning room—myself, Ray, Sam, Amara, Allison, and Rhane. All of us were rather new and had not really been on missions much and not one of the older students to act as leader over the mission. Heck, Al hadn't been on a single mission ever, where most of us had tagged along some time or another. Logan was there as well and I made a guess that he'd be the one watching over us. I groaned inwardly since Logan had a tendency to go all military on missions. "Bobby, I'm placing you in charge since you've been here the longest. Allison, you'll be second in command since you have seniority." She nodded meekly and shuffled her feet nervously.

"Hopefully we won't need to worry about that." She shot me a glance and I puffed up my chest.

"Course not, Iceman's on the case." Amara snickered as she whispered into Rhane's ear.

"Sounds like Remy, talking in the third person." I shot her a glare as Wolverine began to go over the specifics.

"They seemed to be based around this warehouse." He pointed to a warehouse on a map and continued to point out directions and such. "They've caused trouble for a quarter mile radius and for the most part the police are keeping civilians out so you shouldn't have any outside interruptions. We don't know if Mystique has planned this attack for a reason, so keep on your guard." He let the map go and it snapped back into a roll. He handed out com links and ushered us into the Velocity.

* * *

"Okay, here's the plan. We'll split into teams—Ray, I mean Beserker, and Wolfsbane, CannonBall and Hydra, and myself and Magma. Keep in touch with the com links and send up a sign if something goes wrong. I think we're all capable of something. Try not to split up unless it's absolutely necessary and watch each other's backs. Beserker and Wolfsbane you check out the north end, CannonBall and Hydra go east, and we're going south." I practically gagged on how much I sounded like Scott and the others started laughing at it too. I shot them a glare as I led Amara to the south end of the district in search of the Brotherhood.

I turned a corner and ducked back nearly knocking into Amara. "Hey watch it."

"Shh…Toad and Blob at three o' clock."

"Could you speak English?"

"Toad and Blob around that corner." I pointed in the direction I'd started in but when I'd seen them I'd ducked back hopefully unseen.

"Looking for us, yo?"

"Maybe you could talk a little louder next time, Mags."

She shot me a death glare as she put on the heat and chucked a ball of lava at Toad. He jumped outta the way and hopped on to a dumpster. ~_Now where did Blob go?~_ Amara continued to bombard Toad with balls of magma which he continued to dodge easily. 

I moved away from their parry as I went in search of Blob. I turned the corner and found a dumpster being heaved at my head and shot up a wall of ice in defense. It cracked as the dumpster hit and I created an ice slide over it and prepared for my own fight.

* * *

****

BESERKER

"This is just great. We finally get a mission and can't even find the Brotherhood to fight them." Rhane was in wolf form and sniffing the ground. She stood up on her hind legs and went back to normal.

"I can't smell anything. Not with Toad's stench hanging everywhere."

"This bites." The ground beneath us began to move and I dropped down to my knees trying to steady myself and felt a blow on the back of the head that knocked me down the rest of the way. "Ooomph. Just wait 'til I get my hands on you Speedy."

"Got-to-catch-me-first." A blur moved past me and I sent out a bolt of electricity at a spot a few feet in front of it. "Nice-try. Better-luck-next-time." I growled as I continued to shoot bolts in a random fashion hoping to catch him off guard.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rhane go back into wolf form as she stalked Lance. In that form she wasn't quite as unsteady on her feet as Lance tried to shake things up for her.

* * *

****

HYDRA

"Great, we haven't seen a single thing yet."

Sam glanced behind him and sighed. "Well, Ray did." I looked and saw the bolts of electricity going off in the distance.

"Yeah, good for him." I sulked as I continued to look around the corners of the buildings. The next building we came to the door was shut tightly causing me to be suspicious since the rest had been open. "I'm checking it out."

He shot me a warning glance and I sighed. "It's not like someone's going to freeze me. I'll be right back." I placed my hand on the crack in the doorframe and melted through. Once on the other side I squinted trying to readjust my vision to the bleakness. 

All of a sudden the room lit up with fire and maniacal laughter. ~_What the hell?~_ "Looks like there's a new X-sheila to roast." The fire came searing at me and I rolled to the side to get away from the heat. ~_Sheila? What is his deal?~_ I almost laughed at myself for being so stupid. ~_I'm basically made of water, I'm not about to get burnt.~_

I stood up in the center of the aisle made of warehouse crates and smirked. I got a good luck at the guy who had shocking orange hair and what looked like flame-throwers attached to his arms. "Tell me this, boy-o. What two things refuse to burn?"

He appeared off guard by my sudden courage and the fire came back towards me circling me on the floor and for an average person leaving no place to go. "Don't know, but unfortunately for you, Sheila, you're not one of them."

"Oh, but I am." The fire came swirling in fast and furious. It was hot but I didn't get a burning sensation but rather the fire sizzled and crackled when it touched me.

"What the bloody hell?"

"Answer number two—water. Luckily, that's what I'm made of." His maniac smile fell quickly as he continued to concentrate the fire on me. I slowly walked forward trying to feel out any water that might lie underground. I stopped a few feet away from him and placed my hand out in front of me palm down and closed my eyes in concentration.

The floor cracked open as a water line burst and I lifted my hand then waved it at him causing the water to shoot straight up, then at him. He gasped as the flame-throwers went out with quite a bit sizzling and he didn't look the slightest bit happy at being wet. I took the opportunity while he was slightly distracted to confuse him all the more as I evaporated and reappeared behind him. "Pyro, meet Hydra." I delivered a solid punch to the back of his head causing him to drop unconscious. While he was out I took the liberty of detaching the lines to his flame-throwers, which meant that even if he did wake up, he was now powerless unless he got fire from some other source.

I went back outside to meet up with Sam but found him already in a fight with a girl dressed in scarlet red. ~_I'm taking a wild guess here that that is the Scarlet Witch.~_ Sam was about to try a flying tackle when she hexed him causing him to trip over his own feet and fall unceremoniously onto his face. I winced for him as I ran up to join the fight.

"Wait! That's not Sam." I stopped in my tracks and turned to see another Sam come around the corner of the warehouse I'd been in.

"Sam?" He nodded.

"It's Mystique, she's trying to trick you."

"But why? What's going on?" I looked back at the Sam on the ground and the Sam standing before me and felt that both of 'em seemed pretty real. ~_This cannot be good.~_


	12. Hitting Rock Bottom

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I continued to glance from one Sam to the other in confusion then realized how easy this was going to be. ~_She picked Sam to imitate, the one person that I really know here.~_ Even the Scarlet Witch was looking slightly confused by the situation. The first Sam I'd seen picked himself back up off the ground and watched me intensely. ~_That's my boy. Now to fool Mystique.~_

I backed up slowly towards the Sam imitator keeping my eyes on the real thing and the witch at the same time. "Let's get outta here." I was now standing beside the fake Sam who nodded—too confidently. ~_Okay, now I'm positive this is Mystique.~_

"Come on, this way." He started into one of the warehouses and I quickly followed. Outta the corner of my eye I could see the real Sam gaping in shock. 

~_Please understand this message.~ _I tapped the button on my belt to turn on the com link as I followed into the inky blackness of the dark warehouse. "You'll keep your promise, won't you Sam?"

"Of course." There was a slight hesitation in the fake's voice as I turned the com link back off again so that the others' confused messages wouldn't come through giving me away. I crossed my fingers hoping Sam understood as I continued to follow. It was the same warehouse that held the now unconscious Pyro and the fake knelt over him. "You really did a number on him."

"Sure…he wasn't so hot once you took out his fire. Just like that Mystique. She's a real whino when her cover's blown." The fake tensed slightly but kept his cool. ~_I'm touching a nerve here.~_ I smirked inwardly as I continued to toss insults. "I mean what good is being able to look like anyone else if you can't really act like 'em." The fake stood up again and faced me.

"You're right. She's pretty bad." I nodded trying to think of something else to throw her off with. ~_If I can distract her enough, I may be able to fight her decently.~_

"So come on, tell me. Who do you have a crush on?"

There was definitely some tension at this question. "This really isn't the time."

"Oh, come on. I'll drag it outta you eventually."

"Fine." He paused before finishing. "I like Tabitha, are you happy."

"You bet…" I dropped down and delivered a kick sending the fake to the ground. "…Mystique." The fake quickly turned into a blue woman with shiny yellow eyes. ~_So this is Kurt's mother. Yikes, talk about your weird family relations.~_

"You're smarter then you look."

She tried to kick my feet out from underneath of me as well but I jumped back nimbly and took on a boxing stance. "Gee thanks. You're a lot dumber than you look and considering you look pretty dumb…"

She gritted her teeth as she struck out at me with a series of punches and ended in a kick. I grabbed her foot but didn't have time to push her off balance before she punched me hard in the gut. I dropped back a few steps clutching my stomach as she came at me again. ~_Shoulda seen that one coming.~_ "You'll pay for that comment. I don't care how valuable you are." Her words rang in my head as I forgot my stomach and fended off her next series of attacks. I rolled to the side and stood up defensively again more prepared. ~_I'm valuable? Why?~_

"Sorry, but I'm just a chick from the sticks. Not exactly your diamond in the rough material." She sent a roundhouse kick towards my stomach but I backed away from it and then charged with my own attacks.

"Come, you put yourself down. You're capable of getting into anywhere that has the smallest crack. You're practically invulnerable if you concentrate and the ability to control the oceans is yours if you want it." She easily blocked my punches, which frustrated me.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"It's Mystique, she's trying to trick you." I groaned at the sound of my own voice and realized I wasn't talking. ~_Someone's getting pretty good at impersonating me.~ _I slowly cracked my eyes open and pushed up off the ground groaning at the pain.

"But why? What's going on?"

I pushed myself back up off the ground and groaned. I felt my nose sure that it was broken after tripping at around a hundred miles per hour, however it wasn't luckily. I looked up and saw a perfect likeness to myself and saw that Allison was glancing from me to him quickly. ~_Mystique. What does she want?~_

"Let's get outta here." I gaped at her as she backed up towards Mystique. I opened my mouth to say something to stop her but found nothing coming out.

"Come on, this way." Allison turned and followed Mystique into a warehouse leaving me alone again with Wanda.

"Cowards. Why didn't you tell me, Mystique?" I gulped as I looked at Wanda who obviously thought I was Mystique. ~_Well, she's now off guard.~_ I completed the flying tackled I'd attempted earlier and shot both of us through the wall of one of the warehouses. She was knocked out temporarily as I climbed back out through the hole.

* You'll keep your promise, won't you Sam? * I heard Al's voice over the com link and stopped to listen. ~_What in the world is she talking about?~_ I could faintly hear what sounded like my voice in the background. * Of course. *

There was a crackle as her line died and I scrambled to turn mine on. * Al, listen, that's Mystique. Get outta there! * 

There was no response except for Bobby who was yelling his head off. * CannonBall, what the hell is going on? *

* Mystique has Al. I'm going after them. *

* Sam don't, wait for us. *

* It might be too late then. * I had a distinct feeling that she might know that she was with Mystique but there was no way for her to know that Mystique was not an opponent to be taken lightly. I turned off my com link and headed into the warehouse they'd gone into.

It was pitch black in there and I tripped over something laying in the middle of the floor. I looked back and saw that it was Pyro who was slowly coming too. ~_Oh shit.~_ He stood up and saw me standing only feet away from him. "Well, you might not be that bloody Sheila, but you'll do for now." He aimed his flame-throwers at me and cursed when nothing happened. "Bloody Sheila ruined 'em!" I smirked realizing he must be talking about Al since there was a small fountain of water shooting up from the floor nearby.

"Water over fire every time, man."

"You just stay the bloody hell outta this."

"Must suck getting creamed by a girl, let alone a new one." I hit him hard and he fell back against some crates unconscious again. ~_Now to find the 'bloody Sheila'.~_ I snickered as I turned and heard what sounded like an argument coming from the other side of some crates. I crept around the stack and could barely make out Allison fighting with Mystique.

"…ability to control the oceans is yours if you want it." ~_What's going on?~_ I watched for a few more minutes as Allison failed to land a single punch on the older mutant. She was easily getting frustrated and outta the corner of my eye I saw Wanda. ~_She's moving again already? Great.~_ With a wave of her hand the probability of crates falling on Allison's head suddenly became very good. The stack over the fight began to tip and before I could react she was buried beneath broken wood splinters. Mystique stopped and smiled as Wanda walked out into the middle of the room. "Good work. Now to get her out of here without interference from the others."

Allison rose up from a puddle on the floor and looked at the broken mess of crates then at Wanda and Mystique. "Somebody get a license on that Mac truck?" She was rubbing her temple but stopped as she glared at the pair. "I don't take to kindly to people who try to trick me then kill me."

Mystique stopped dead in her tracks obviously under the impression that Allison should be out cold right now. I was at Mystique's back and I took the opportunity to shoot at her. She went sprawling across the floor in a heap as I grabbed Allison's arm. "Now would be a good time to go." Her eyes were wide at my sudden appearance but she nodded as we ran back out into the bright sunshine. 

I could see Ray and Rhane coming out and Ray was looking pretty smug with himself. "Don't think that stupid speedster will be causing much trouble for awhile." Rhane looked like she wanted to spit but was restraining from doing so and I don't think I really wanted to know if she bit anyone. ~_Just hope it wasn't Toad. I'd have to burn my tongue off.~_

"I thought I told you not to go in alone?" Bobby looked thoroughly pissed as he came out as well. I could hear the Velocity coming as Logan prepared to pick us up.

"Look ev'rything's cool. So let's forget it."

"Why'd you try and fight Mystique alone?"

"I guess I underestimated her. Won't happen again." Bobby kept his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at her. The Velocity landed and the hatch dropped allowing us entrance. Logan said nothing to us as we loaded in and remained quiet the rest of the way back.

* * *

****

HYDRA

"…I'm pleased with your ability to take down the Brotherhood. However I'd be more pleased if you all learned to work as a team. I believe that will take some more working on." I shuffled my feet knowing that the professor's lecture was aimed at me for trying to face Mystique by myself when I should have at least taken Sam with me.

Bobby was still glaring daggers at me as it ended and the professor wheeled away. "If someone wouldn't have been trying to play hero, we may have been able to bring down Mystique as well." I looked down at my combat boots admiring the way they served the same purpose as shin guards yet left me able to move freely.

"Look, she apologized already. Drop it Bobby."

"Yeah, stick up for your girlfriend. Just forget about your best friend." Sam froze at Bobby's cold words and I looked back up.

"I'm not his girlfriend and I don't need you fighting my battles, Sam." I slowly left the planning room to shower and change.

"Hey wait up." I didn't stop walking as Rhane and Amara ran to catch up to me. "I thought you two were…you know."

"You thought wrong Amara."

"Well, you two are awfully close." Rhane piped up quietly from slightly behind.

"We're just friends. And I don't see why I have to defend myself to you two." I kept walking past the locker room where they stopped and continued towards the elevator. I angrily punched the up button and tapped my foot impatiently. ~_Stupid prick, Bobby. Can't ev'ryone just accept the fact that guys and girls can be **just** friends? I wasn't trying to be a hero or anything. I just thought I could handle it.~_ I sighed angrily and impatiently at the elevator.

"Please, calm down. You're thinking is extremely loud." I looked up to see the professor and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. I've just got a few things on my mind."

"Yes, I know. Would you like to talk about it?" I panicked slightly and pushed the phone conversation with my mother farther into the deepest corners of my mind.

"Nope, not a thing. Nothing a good punching bag can't clear up." I smiled warmly hopefully getting him to back off slightly or at least not read my mind. He placed his chin on his hands and nodded knowledgeably.

"If you ever need to talk, you know how to reach me."

"Sure thing, 1-800-R-E-A-D-M-I-N-D." He smiled as he nodded again.

"It's often your humor as students that gives me hope for the future generations."

"Wow, didn't realized I could do that." I smiled as the elevator opened and I stepped inside. "Wanna ride on the Spankster express or are you going to wait for the next one?"

"I believe I will wait."

"Okay." I sighed in relief after the doors shut and I leaned back against the back wall of the elevator and sunk down. ~_That was too close for comfort.~_ I felt bad for avoiding the professor as much as possible lately but I felt that if he knew too much about my father he'd refuse to let me outta the mansion. 

I was grateful to find the gym empty and put on the gloves and began a vicious series of attacks on the punching bag. ~_Why couldn't I beat her? What was she talking about? Why am I valuable? Why not, Sam or Bobby, or any of the others? Why me?~_ With each question I delivered another hard punch to the bag and quickly worked myself into a sweat. I dropped to my knees and put a hand out to stop the bag from hitting me as it swung back. ~_Most of all what did she mean by my being invulnerable? I've got bruises from practice to prove I'm far from that.~_

I stood up and stripped the gloves off. "Well, if I'm so damn invulnerable, then this shouldn't hurt much." I punched the bag as hard as I could and gritted my teeth to keep from moaning at the pain that shot up from my knuckles as the connected with the tough leather bag. I bit my lip as I looked down and saw that I'd split each and every knuckle open and that they were bleeding freely. ~_Well, screw the invulnerability idea. She must have gotten her wires crossed somewhere.~_

* * *

****

BEAST

"Now why don't you tell me my dear why you thought you could hit the punching bag without the gloves?" Allison sat on the edge of a med bay bed rubbing the back of her now bandaged hand nervously as she stared at the floor.

"Just something that somebody said."

"And what would be this something and who would be our somebody?" I put my instruments away as I continued talking to Allison.

"Mystique said something about me being invulnerable. I think she's high on something."

I laughed slightly. The teenagers in this mansion never ceased to amaze me. "I'm not so sure if she's high or not, but she might have been slightly right about being invulnerable."

"Well, if I'm so invulnerable why am I down here?" I pulled up a chair and sat down near the bed as I continued talking with her.

"You weren't concentrating on your powers when you punched the bag. Think about it. You're body reacts like water, and water, you can hit it, slap it, punch it, doesn't matter, and it just goes back to how it was. You can't hurt it." She nodded in understanding. "Theoretically, as long as you concentrate on your powers, you should be invulnerable. But that's theoretically speaking, so don't try something dangerous to prove it." She nodded again as she jumped down from the bed.

"Sure thing, doc. Can I go?"

"I suppose so. You've got a clean bill of health, Miss Williams." She exited the med lab as I sat back in thought. ~_If Mystique truly believes she's capable of invulnerability, she may be in some trouble.~_

"Hank, you in here?"

"Yes, Logan." I stood up and finished putting away my instruments.

"So how's Kicks?" Logan entered the room in his usual gruff manner but I noticed he was beginning to soften. ~_Could it be old age finally settling in or is he taking after another student like he did Rogue?~_ I mused to myself not daring to mention it.

"Just left. She'll be fine."

"Guess she lost to the punching bag as well."

"Yes you could say that."

"Did she tell you anything about what happened with Mystique."

"Actually yes, she mentioned that Mystique believes she's invulnerable because of her powers." Logan only nodded as he too exited. ~_Aww…things are getting quite interesting now.~_

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I'd thought it over for hours and finally decided I should just apologize. I walked to Betsy and Al's room and knocked quietly on the door. I could faintly hear music coming from inside but didn't recognize it nor was there any singing accompanying it.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Sam." The door had opened partly after knocking so I stuck my head through.

"Go away, you shouldn't be here." She was sitting on the edge of her bed facing the far wall with her guitar in her lap. I cocked my head to the side to get a better look at what she was doing.

"Yeah, I know it's after curfew and guys aren't supposed to be in girl's dorms and all…but I needed to talk to you."

"You don't need to do anything except go away." I sighed as I pulled my head back out and was about to turn and leave when Betsy pushed me inside.

Al turned around and glared at Betsy then at me. "Betsy, I don't want to see him."

"Well, maybe I do, luv. Sam, just sit down anywhere." I looked at Betsy confused but did as she said taking a seat on what had been Rogue's bed. Al frowned but turned away to continue messing with her guitar. I then realized I hadn't recognized the music because she was only tuning. She strummed out a few chords then started into what I recognized to be 'Kryptonite' by 3 Doors Down. I could barely hear her humming out the words as she picked out the lead licks and jammed out the chorus. I heard the door creak open behind me and figured it was Betsy leaving.

"You called me strong, you called me weak, but still your secrets I will keep." I didn't sing it or anything just spoke the next line and she stopped playing and stared back at me. "Come on, just forgive me already. I didn't mean to step on your toes or anything back there…"

"You don't have anything to apologize for. I'm the one who screwed up the mission today." She stood up and set her guitar back on the stand. She continued standing with her arms crossed over her chest. I noticed her right hand was bandaged.

"What happened." 

"I got my butt creamed by Mystique first then I picked a fight with a punching bag and lost there too." She grinned half-heartedly as she sat back down on the bed next to me wringing her hands in her lap.

"Not a good day, huh?"

"Nope."

"Where'd you learn to play like that?"

"My family's really into music so I just got an ear for it and learned to play by ear. That and a few years worth of lessons helped." She shrugged nonchalantly as I struggled for something to talk about. "I could show you some stuff, some other time when it's not so late though." I nodded. ~_So long as she's still not mad at me.~_

"So…um…" I mentally kicked myself for not thinking of anything else to talk to her about.

"Yeah." She laughed quietly at our awkward silence.

"I should get going before Logan comes up here to check on everyone and decides to kill me." I stood up to leave and turned around to see my worst nightmare in the doorway.

"Too late, bub. What do you think you're doing?"

"Just leaving." It came out as a squeak as I tried to squeeze past him and into the hall. I saw Betsy was in the bathroom removing her make up. ~_Never assume…never. All you do is make an **ass** out of **u** and **me**.~_

He looked at me non-believing as he grabbed my shoulder and personally led me back to my own room. "Watch it bub, 'cause if I find out you're keeping something from me…" He made a swiping motion across his neck which spoke louder than words.

I laughed nervously and went in my room quickly shutting the door. ~_I promised, but I don't want to lie, not to Logan. I'm not that eager to die quite yet.~_

"Man, you look like you just saw a ghost."

"No, just Logan." I looked at Bobby who put down his comic book to look at me.

"You're more screwed up then I thought, man. You honestly didn't go crawling to her with an apology, did you?" I didn't answer as I pulled sleep clothes out. "You're beyond help now and for a while we thought you'd never fall. Then you hit rock bottom." He snickered as he picked up his comic book and kept reading.

"So we're still friends?"

"Duh, you can't get rid of me that easily. Besides, I have to make sure you still have some guts to ask her to the prom by the end of the year." I groaned as I dropped onto my bed. "Like I said. KERSPLAT! Rock bottom."

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry, I haven't posted in a really long, long, long, long time! I've been really busy lately and every single frickin' day has had something going on. I simply haven't had time to do much other than sit down and type a paragraph or two and forget the time it takes for my slow computer to log on to the internet.

I'd like to wish everyone a happy holidays whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza or anything else. HAPPPY HOLIDAYS!


	13. A Bad Day On Cloud 9

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

The entire way through practice, I felt like someone was constantly watching me and only me. At first I tried to convince myself it was only nerves because summer was nearing a close and school would be starting next week along with the first game of the season. ~_Cool it girl, you're just getting on edge for no reason.~_

But the feeling persisted and towards the end I had myself convinced that it was Mystique preparing herself for a rematch but that too got shoved aside. ~_She wouldn't be dumb enough to attack me in plain view. You're now being paranoid.~_

However as I was pulling my equipment together after practice I could have sworn I saw a man standing beneath the bleachers. ~_Now I'm scaring myself by seeing things.~_ When I turned to look properly there was nobody there and I tried to shake it off.

"Hey Al, I'll meet you by your truck. I need to go inside for something."

"Yeah, sure thing, Sam. Just hurry okay." I continued to gaze at the spot where I was positive a man had been standing. ~_If anything it was a college scout. Stop being stupid.~_

"Are you okay?" I blinked when I realized he was still talking to me.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Peachy." I turned and smiled at him as I heaved my stuff up over my shoulder. "Hey, don't take too long 'cause you owe me a soda, remember?" He growled something in a poor imitation of Logan as he ran back into the school.

I turned to look back at the bleachers once more then shook my head. ~_It was nothing but a wildly over active imagination. What's that saying, 'Imagination is intelligence having fun.' Why aren't I having fun and why don't I feel very smart right now?~_

I walked to the parking lot slowly figuring that the longer I took to get there the less time I'd spend there waiting on Sam. I tossed my stuff into the bed and was turning on the radio to listen to until Sam got back. 

As I fumbled with the key I felt a hand grab my arm roughly and yank me outta the truck where the keys hung in the ignition and slammed me bodily into the side of the truck. "Hey watch the hands!" Through the stars, I turned to look at my not so friendly grabber and gasped. There in living color was my father, long dark hair pulled back in a single braid, long beard, and alcohol on the breath. ~_Just like I remember him.~_ I swallowed as I stared into the cold brown eyes glaring down at me.

"Is that any way to greet your dad?"

"Hi." His grip tightened and I inhaled quickly as the pain seared up my arm. "Whacha doing here?"

"Came to get you outta this damn prep school your fucking mother put you in."

"I like it here though." I winced as the grip became tighter and realized quickly why my mom had divorced him and how she'd ended up in the hospital. ~_He's strong…no kidding there.~_

"You look like a damn slut. Your mother let you walk around like this?" I glanced down at the wife beater I wore beneath my practice clothes. I hadn't gotten a chance to throw on a hoodie yet.

"I had practice…I don't dress like this normally." He backhanded me hard causing my head to rattle and mixing up my thoughts slightly. ~_He didn't just hit me…I'm his li'l girl…I'm his baby.~_

"Don't lie to me you fucking little slut. You're coming with me."

"No. I'm not leaving my friends." I received another slap across the mouth and shut my eyes willing the tears to go away before they gave away my weakness.

"Don't talk back to me. Who said you could play football, huh? Think you're a guy now too?"

"No…" I winced as yet another backhand came and bit my lip 'til it began bleeding. ~_Where's Sam?!?!~_

"Come on…I'll get you turned around." He yanked me away from my truck and towards a similar red Chevy truck on the opposite side of the parking lot. ~_Well, that might be part of the reason I insisted on getting mine. Stupid me really thought I was Daddy's little girl.~_

I struggled slightly trying to work free. In my panic I wasn't thinking about my powers. Hell, if I had been, I wouldn't have both cheeks stinging red from so many hits. "Stop that right now girl." He turned to glare at me and I stopped in my tracks, tears threatening to take over. I put all my strength into one more yank but found it hurt even more because he yanked back dislocating my shoulder. 

A single tear fell as I realized that this man didn't care about my well being. He cared about what he thought was right and not what was the truth. "Let her go." More tears slid down my burning cheeks when I heard Sam's voice. ~_Thank you God for sweet innocent Sam.~_

"Who's he? Do you have a boyfriend?" I whimpered as the pressure continued to grow on my arm and I knew that pretty soon circulation was going to go. ~_Forget about the bruise I'll have to remember this for a month or so._~ "Who said you could have a boyfriend?"

"Nobody." He took a break from the backhands and punched me in the gut causing me to double over. "He's just a friend." Another punch followed.

"Damn you girl and your lies."

"I said let her go." I looked up at Sam and saw that he'd dropped his gear several yards back and looked ready for a fight. "Some father you are. Drop outta her life just to come back and beat the crap outta her." He dropped my arm to turn around and face Sam. I dropped to my knees hugging my stomach and willing the pain to go away.

"You little shit, you think you can talk to me that way?" My father roughly yanked me back up by my other arm as I silently kissed the feeling in it goodbye as well. "I'll do damn well as I please and won't answer to any fuckers like you."

I'd never seen Sam angry…yes scared, shy, worried, happy, ev'rything but angry. It was a sight to be seen as he was practically busting to beat something. "Don't make me hurt you."

"What do you think you're going to do? Threaten me to boredom?" He scoffed as Sam blew his top and launched himself at him. I felt my arm released as I watched as both of them flew by. I landed on my back and banged my head off the pavement but it felt like a feather pillow compared to my father's fists.

I pushed myself back to my feet seeing stars and silently stumbled over towards Sam who was standing again by now. My father lied on his back gasping for breath having taken a hard shot to the chest. "You're one of those damn freaks. My daughter won't date a fucking mutant." He stood up and pulled a switchblade from his pocket.

My eyes fell on the shining blade as I stepped in front of Sam. ~_Maybe he won't go through me. Maybe he'll snap out of this and realize I'm his baby girl, that he doesn't want to hurt me.~_ "Daddy, please."

"Get out of the way." He slowly walked towards us the knife held dangerously.

"Daddy, I'm begging you…leave Sam outta this."

"So now the fucker has a name? Well, Sam, you picked the wrong girl to fuck."

"Al…" I ignored Sam's protests from behind me as I held my hands out in a shielding fashion.

"Al? That's what people call you now?" There was no emotion behind those brown eyes. Just pure anger built up from the alcohol.

"Sam, I want you to go…now."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Ain't that sweet. He'll die for you bitch. The mutant's going to die for the bitch he fucks."

"The key's in the ignition…go…get help." I turned my head slightly to look at him and could see him hesitantly turn to go. I turned back to face the man who'd been at some point in my life a father. "Stop that. If you hate mutants so much then you must hate me too."

He stopped moving as he tore his gaze off the retreating Sam and turned to look at me again. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I could hear the tires squeal as Sam put my truck in motion and sped away. ~_Thank you for listening.~_

"I'm a mutant too. If you hate Sam 'cause he's one then you've got to hate me too, your li'l girl, your baby girl." A smile pulled up on the corners of his lips as he started moving towards me again. ~_Oh good one, tell the drunk mutant hater that you're a mutant. He's not your father, he's a drunken asshole on an ego trip.~_

"So that's what went wrong. You're a damn mutant. No wonder you don't listen to a fucking thing any one says." I mentally kicked myself for making that stupid of a move. I slowly began to back away from him as he waved the knife testing the way it cut the air. ~_Didn't the professor or maybe it was Miss Frost say that the mutant gene is passed on by fathers? That would make it his fault. I dunno, who cares at this point.~_

My arms were still held out to the side and I began to wonder if there might be a water line or something running beneath the parking lot. ~_Even if I could just bust one, that might be enough distraction.~_ I kept my eyes glued on him however as I walked not daring to look back.

"Don't do this…I don't want to hurt you." He snorted as he continued to walk forward. "I don't want to, but if I have to I'll…I'll use my powers." He didn't seem to find that as a very viable threat as he still moved forward. ~_Okay, this isn't working…~_

I licked my lips cursing the planners who decided to not run water lines beneath the parking lot. "Come on girlie…let's see those powers of yours." ~_How long will it take for Sam to get back to the institute. It's only a few miles and at that speed…~_

"How do you know I'm not already using them?" ~_I need to stall…just buy some time 'til the others can get here.~ _He stopped uncertain at first then kept coming at me as I failed to put any more distance between us. I hit a brick wall with a good amount of force as I'd been backing up extremely quickly. 

He smirked as he continued to step forward and was too close for me to cut to either side safely anymore. "Lets see 'em. Let's see those powers of yours." I tried as best I could but fear clouded my senses and refused to allow me to concentrate. ~_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.~_ "Times up." He closed the distance on me and rammed the knife into my stomach. I fought the urge to vomit knowing the sight of the red blood would cause me to vomit even more in a cycle that would only stop once I passed out. ~_I can't pass out. I have to stand strong 'til help comes.~_

With a sick smile on his face he twisted the knife in my gut and pulled it back out. I gasped as I dropped to my knees and held my hand over the hole in my stomach. My white shirt was slowly turning a bright red and I could see the liquid slowly seeping between my fingers. I swallowed as I looked up at the man who'd given me life and wondered if he'd be taking it as well as I welcomed the pain free darkness.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I'd never been so scared as when I saw that man hitting Al in the parking lot. It took me a while to realize that the behemoth before me was actually her father. ~_He looks like a drunk now. Not a bit like those nice wedding shots she showed me.~_ I dropped my stuff and ran forward not exactly knowing what I planned to do other than get him away from her. ~_She's not thinking. She should be able to get away.~_

"Let her go." I could see that she was crying under the hold of her father as he turned to look at me.

"Who's he? Do you have a boyfriend? Who said you could have a boyfriend?" She was whimpering and didn't seem very much like the Allison I knew.

"Nobody." I stood helplessly by as he punched her in the gut. "He's just a friend." He hit her again and I could feel the anger slowly rising.

"Damn you girl and your lies."

"I said let her go. Some father you are. Drop outta her life just to come back and beat the crap outta her." He let her go which accomplished my goal as he turned to look at me fully. I took a deep breath as Allison fell to her knees.

"You little shit, you think you can talk to me that way?" He yanked her back up by the other arm forcing her to her feet. "I'll do damn well as I please and won't answer to any fuckers like you."

I could feel my hands curling into fists as I watched. ~_I have to do something.~_ "Don't make me hurt you."

"What do you think you're going to do? Threaten me to boredom?" He laughed at me and I finally blew my top as I launched myself at him. He went flying across the pavement as I stood back up glowering.

He continued to lie on his back gasping for air as he stared at me. I could sense Al's presence behind me as she softly sobbed. "You're one of those damn freaks. My daughter won't date a fucking mutant." As he stood back up again he pulled a knife out.

She stepped in front of me and placed her hands out as if she could stop him from attacking me. "Daddy, please."

"Get out of the way." He continued to flash the knife dangerously as he advanced towards us.

"Daddy, I'm begging you…leave Sam outta this."

"So now the fucker has a name? Well, Sam, you picked the wrong girl to fuck." I tensed at the way he was talking. ~_This is his daughter…why's he talking to her like that?~_

"Al…" I placed a hand on her shoulder but she continued to ignore it.

"Al? That's what people call you now?" I stared at the cold heartless man over her shoulder.

"Sam, I want you to go…now." My breath caught in my throat at what she'd just asked me to do. ~_I can't…I can't leave her with this mad man.~_

"I'm not leaving you."

"Ain't that sweet. He'll die for you bitch. The mutant's going to die for the bitch he fucks."

"The key's in the ignition…go…get help." She turned her head slightly, just enough for me to see the bright blue eyes shining through the black eye that was forming. ~_She's pissed to say the least. Maybe she can take care of herself. I'm just going to have to trust her.~_ I slowly turned and ran towards her truck yanking the door open and getting behind the wheel. "Stop that. If you hate mutants so much then you must hate me too." I paused for a second to look in the rear view mirror when I hear those words. ~_What is she thinking?~_

I took a deep breath when I realized she was simply distracting him away from me. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" ~_Now to get the calvary.~_ I jammed my foot down on the accelerator and the tires screamed in protest as I sped out.

I don't know how long it took me to get back to the institute and I pulled the truck to a screeching halt in front of the garage where Logan was tinkering on his bike. "Help…Al…her father…knife…school…" Logan dropped his tools and stood up quickly looking at me as I practically fell from the driver's seat of the truck.

"Where's Kicks?"

"School…her dad…knife…" I didn't realize it but I'd been holding my breath the entire trip over. "Where are the others?"

"No time for that." He practically picked me up and bodily shoved me into the passenger seat of the truck as he took over the wheel. "Start talking, bub."

"Allison's dad's a the school beating the crap outta her." I took a deep breath trying to make sense although it was hard for me to do so. "The call the other day was her mom, saying her dad knew she was here. He's a drunk and to top it off he hates mutants. He might kill her." Logan spared one look at me as he took a turn at top speed practically tossing me out the open window. I held on to the door for dear life as we pulled back into the parking lot.

I jumped down from the cab and didn't think twice about tackling him. He'd been standing over her, the knife now covered in blood as she was slumped down against a wall. The knife skittered away as I punched him in the jaw. He knocked me off with a sharp blow to the face and Logan took over.

I only took in Logan long enough to see that Al's father was now in the air hanging on by his collar and for once looked scared as with a *snikt Logan's claws crept closer to his throat.

I ran over to Allison and could see that her shirt was now a brilliant red from the blood and her eyes were closed. ~_No, she can't be.~_ I clumsily felt for a pulse and didn't find one. ~_Please, let it be my own stupidity that I can't find one.~_ I tilted her head up and placed it in my lap as I removed me jean jacket and placed it over her like a blanket. ~_This isn't fair…it's that asshole who should die.~_

"If she's dead…you can kiss your own damn life goodbye as well, bub." I looked away from my jacket, which was slowly staining red to Logan who punched the other man in the face hard enough to knock him unconscious. He dropped him and stalked back towards us. 

He knelt down and frowned as he scrunched up his nose against the smell of her blood and took a pulse. "She's hanging on, but just barely." I nodded slowly thanking God for his kindness. "Look, I can't stay here. The police'll be on their way with an ambulance. Tell 'em whatever you want to, just don't tell 'em a fourth person was involved. If he's going to get locked up we can't make it look like mutants ganged up on him." I nodded realizing that the jerk wasn't going to see the inside of a cell for very long. ~_Doesn't really matter if she dies, she's just a mutant. We're all just mutant freaks.~_

* * *

****

WHITE QUEEN

* Miss Steele? *

* Yes, is everything okay with Allison? *

* I'm afraid I have some bad news. * ~_I hate having to do this.~_ I shook my head as Xavier watched on from behind his desk. * Allison's father was in Bayville today. *

* Dear God, he hurt her! That son of a bitch hurt her. *

* Yes, she's being transported from the hospital to here at the institute. We'll give her the best treatment that there is. *

* Where is he? Where's that bastard? I'll kill him. *

* The Bayville police is currently holding Mr. Williams. If you'd like, we'll have a lawyer here to talk to you about a restraining order. *

* A restraining order? Won't he be held in jail? *

* Unfortunately not. The law doesn't see it as a crime to…to hurt mutants. *

* What's this world coming too? *

* I honestly don't know, Miss Steele. I honestly don't know. *

* I'll be there as quickly as I can get a flight. *

* We'll be expecting you then. * I hung up the phone with a sigh as I sank back into a chair and faced Xavier. "It's a terrible day when a man can get away with nearly killing his daughter."

"Yes, but we will do our best to fight that. I know several lawyers who are eager for an opportunity to take a case like this to the Supreme Court."

"It's sad though, that it had to be one of our students." He nodded as he rested his chin onto his hands and stared out the window. "How's Sam holding up?"

"I'm sure once Allison is back on her feet, he'll be fine as well."

"I've never seen him so interested in one of the other students."

"No, he's been one of the less sociable, but Allison seems to be good for him."

"So long as she's conscious. Do you really think she'll be okay?" 

"Only time will tell." 

I stood and took a spot next to him at the window to watch the rest of the student body outside. Bobby looked slightly out of place by sitting alone on the grass watching the other boys play basketball and Betsy looked just as out of place as she walked the grounds alone. "You never realize until disaster strikes how closely knit these students are."

"They are our hope for the future. If they can remain united, then there is still hope for the future." There was a flicker of sadness as he watched Scott and Jean.

"You know something is going to happen to her. Why won't you tell anyone what you've seen from Apocalypse?" He rolled back to his desk as I slowly turned to watch him.

"One person already knows and that is enough for me. However I fear that she's going to have her own struggles with right and wrong as well."

"Rogue."

"Yes, she should be coming back soon, but I fear she won't be the same girl who left us."

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Yeah, a two for one deal! Two chappies at once…aren't you all lucky. I'm trying to make up for not posting in so long.


	14. Waking Up From The Dream

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I cursed the pain that racked my body as I lay in the hospital bed. I was barely aware of my surroundings as the pain soaring through my body seemed to take up most of my concentration. ~_I'll kill him if I ever get outta this bed.~_

I went to touch my forehead with my hand and felt someone else's head resting on the edge of the bed. I smiled as I ran my fingers through the slightly long hair. The movement caused pain to sear through my shoulder so I stopped and simply rested it on Sam's cheek.

The head began to move on me and a hand took mine in it and squeezed. I squeezed as best I could back, trying not to wince at the pain it caused in my shoulder. ~_Dislocated it when he yanked on me.~_ "Al?"

"Did somebody…get a…license on…that Mac truck?" Talking was hard. With each breath by chest felt like it was going to cave in on me causing me to gasp again and the pain to start over again.

"Shh…don't talk. You've got a few broken ribs." I groaned. ~_Broken ribs, ha! It's more like ground up ribs.~_ Even the mental laugh seemed to hurt.

"That and…a dislocated shoulder…pair of black eyes…and at least one…stab wound."

"Only one black eye and there's actually six stabs."

"Glad I…don't remember…'em all. Prolly…look like…shit."

"Other girls would look worse with mascara running and all that." I forced a weak smile despite the pain it caused in my jaw. "It's kinda cute. Reminds me of a dog."

"Gee…thanks." I cracked an eye open to look at him and frowned. He had a big shiner around one of his eyes as well. "You're…hurt." I had to close my eye again…it was as if it weighed a ton or two and was work just keeping it open.

He shrugged. "It's nothing that won't heal. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Join the…club." I spoke softly hoping he'd take the bait.

"What?" I motioned for him to lean down and he did so. I picked my head up off the pillow briefly and kissed the corner of his eye.

"All better…now." I fell back into the pillow and cracked my eye open again to see him blushing and laughed lightly. I cursed as my ribs ached with pain but found it worth it. I closed my eyes again and realized when they were closed the pain seemed almost detached. "Guess…I'm not…invulnerable."

"You weren't thinking about your powers much."

"No…guess not." I felt the weight on the bed shift as he sat down on the edge of it still holding my hand in his. "How long…have I…been down here?"

He paused and didn't answer me for a while. "Two days."

"Shit…I've been…out for…two days?" I cracked both eyes open long enough to see him nod. "My mom…must be worried…sick."

"She's upstairs with the professor and Miss Frost with a lawyer. They're working on a restraining order for you. If everything goes well, he won't be allowed near Bayville or the Cove. You know that's an odd name for a town."

"It's not a town…it's several…Get an order…for one of 'em…and you take two steps…and it's useless." Breathing was becoming slightly easier as I continued talking to him, which I took to be a good sign.

"That makes sense. You realize you got to get outta this bed soon for three reasons."

"Yeah…what are they."

"First, school starts next week. Second we've got a game next Friday night and Coach'll have a conniption if his kicker's still bedfast."

"You said three…reasons." I opened my eyes and was determined to keep 'em open. He looked up at the ceiling for inspiration before looking back down at me.

"Third you promised to teach me guitar."

"Yeah…well…don't forget the soda…you owe me." He laughed at me.

"You don't forget anything do you?" I shook my head slightly deciding to try moving some other body parts other than my mouth and eyes. "Well, I'll up it to a movie ticket too, if you get outta this bed in the next three days."

"Make it a pair of tickets…for me and a friend…and it's a deal." He cocked his head to the side in confusion causing me to smile. "One for me…one for you."

"Are you asking me out?" He sounded slightly incredulous as I fought the urge to laugh knowing it would be slightly more pain then I wanted at the moment.

"Sure…what the hey…You'll be…paying." He grinned slightly as he squeezed my hand again. "If I go crazy…then will you still…call me superman…if I'm alive and well…will you be there…holding my hand?"

"Always." He smiled at me as I heard the doors swish open and closed again.

"Sweetie? Are you awake?" I looked past Sam to see my mom in the doorway to the med lab. Her face was stained with tears and looked relieved to see me.

"Hi Mom." She ran into the room and Sam jumped to the side to not get run over by a mother-daughter moment. She threw her arms around me and I could feel my ribs aching again. "Can't…breathe…really." She pulled back smiling as she placed her hands on my cheeks to check that I was real.

"I was so worried, sweetheart."

"I know…I'm sorry."

"Just so long as you're alive, that's all that matters. You're all I have now. You can't…" I felt a lecture coming on but she stopped herself and smiled. "I'm just glad that you're going to be alright."

"Yeah…me too." I smiled as best I could and pushed the pain into the back of my mind. I could see Sam heading for the door. "Hey…where do you think…you're going?" He stopped and smiled sheepishly back at my mother and I.

He looked panic stricken as my mom rushed him and pulled him into a hug. "My hero. Thank you, she's everything to me." I felt a laugh about to spill out at the sight of Sam awkwardly trying to peel my mom off.

"I'm not really…"

"Nonsense. You saved my little girl's life." I was grateful to realize I could still roll my eyes at my mother's back. Instead of being freed, Sam was drawn into the hug even tighter. "Sam, right? Thank you Sam." I finally burst out laughing but quickly stopped at the pain it caused. Sam shot me a glare and I just kept smiling. My mom finally released him but kept holding on to him by the shoulders. "I can't thank you enough."

"I think you have. I'll just be going." He quickly dodged out of her grip and out the doors. My mom turned and sat down in the chair that Sam had been occupying and she took up the job of hand holder.

"He seems like a sweet guy."

"Yeah…real sweet." I closed my eyes and willed sleep to return. ~_Sooner the pain goes, the sooner I get up and moving.~_ I reopened 'em again when I had the sensation of someone watching and saw a tall lanky boy standing behind the glass door to my room staring with demon-like red and black eyes. ~_Great, with the pain I'm getting hallucinations.~_ With that thought, I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

Since I'd gotten booted from the med lab by an overly excited mother, I decided to act semi-normal and eat dinner. Everyone else had already finished and only Bobby was still sitting at the table. I sat down at the table smiling as I loaded my plate up with chicken and potatoes. "Okay, what happened? You look like you got laid or something, man." I looked up surprised at Bobby who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "She's awake, huh?"

"Yeah, finally."

"Seriously though, you better wipe that grin off or there's going to be rumors going around." ~_That's what her dad thought.~_ I grimaced at the memory of his maniacal ramblings.

"Get a life, her mom was down there." 

"Okay, well, now you don't have to get all angry on me." I looked up and realized that I must have been pretty angry looking.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about what her dad did…" I shook my head in disgust.

"Yeah, that really sucks." He got quiet and thoughtful as he leaned back causing his chair to go back on two legs. "You think they'll be able to get him locked up?"

"Doubt it." I poked at the potatoes with my fork wishing it was him. ~_He deserves to suffer like she is right now.~_

"You know you should just ask her out. Make my life easier."

"What?!?!"

"Come on, I have to put up with you moaning about how you're such a whino and she digs you for some odd reason. She thinks you're cool and you keep acting like a nobody. Just ask her out for God's sake and leave me alone. If you don't I'll ask for you."

"Too late. She already asked me out." I poked at the potatoes again and took a big bite to distract myself from Bobby's astonished stare.

"She asked you? What do they have her on down there?"

"Nothing, Doc McCoy's afraid to give her too many meds. The whole water thing."

"Then she must really like you." He jumped up and looked out the window. "Darn I thought pigs woulda been flying or something." I shook my head at him as he sat back down across from me. "You know she's not that bad looking when she's not all bruised up."

"I thought you were trying to win over Jubes."

"I am…can't I look at someone else though?" I glared at him as he laughed. "Alright, don't get your shorts all tied up in a knot. Besides, I can't touch her you dope. No competition here." He held his hands up innocently. I sighed as I picked up the now empty plate and dropped it into the sink.

"I'm gonna go see if her mom's left yet."

"What's her mom got to do with anything?" He raised an eyebrow suggestively and I glared him down.

"She keeps hugging me and calling me a hero. I thought I was going to puke." He laughed as I exited the kitchen to head back down to the med lab. I peered through the glass doors to see that the room was empty except for her sleeping.

"Bonsoir, petite homme." I stood up straight and turned to see Remy standing behind me.

"You scared me. And I'm not that short."

"Y' right, y' grown some in de past six mont's. Watchin' de fille? Could fall int' de stalker profile." I ignored his comment.

"How's Rogue?" I looked behind him into the opposite room where Rogue was strapped down to a bed. Something was wrong with her but no one was saying quite what.

"Still not herself." He had a far off look in his eyes that made the normally overly happy Cajun look sad. "She still bein' possessed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shot him a curious glance.

"Not'in'. Don' worry 'bout her, mon ami. Y' got y' own fille t' worry 'bout." I looked back at Al and sighed.

"Al, she didn't deserve this."

"Friends o' Humanity?"

"No, her father. Came up here and beat the snot outta her 'cause he didn't like the fact that she'd been put in a private school."

"Dose are de unes who should be locked away." He ran a hand through his hair and looked nervously back towards Rogue who was now stirring and didn't look happy about her bondage. "I bes' check on her." He ducked back through the sliding doors and I couldn't hear what he said but could tell he was trying to get her to calm down. ~_Whatever happened to her, musta been pretty bad.~_

I entered Al's room and sat down in the chair next to her bed and watched her sleep. Occasionally she'd stir with a groan of pain then settle back into peace. "Who's he? He's been staring at me for the past hour or so. Don't know for sure since there's no clock down here."

I looked up surprised that she was awake. Her eyes were shut but she seemed pretty aware of her surroundings. "That's Remy."

"The guy from New Orleans?"

"Yeah." She nodded slowly. I could see her tense up as she struggled to push herself into a sitting position. "Woah, hold on there!" I found the remote that changed the bed's position and handed it to her. "Don't make yourself hurt worse."

She nodded feebly as her head rose up as the bed moved. "Thanks." She dropped the remote but looked pleased that she was at least sitting. "So I guess that's Rogue."

"I think so at least."

"Well, she either is or she isn't."

"Rogue's powers are kinda mental. I think that's her body, but I don't think she's in charge upstairs."

"So she's loony right now."

"I guess you could say that."

"It's funny that my mom thinks you're a hero."

"Why?"

"'Cause I think the same thing." She turned and smiled at me her eyes now open. They shone a brilliant green, which surprised me because I woulda thought with all the pain she wouldn't be too happy.

"Well, Logan was really the one who took care of your father. I just watched really."

"Who knocked him off of me and stopped him from killing me?"

I paused when I let the question register. "I did."

"Then you're my hero." She seemed to make it final with the way she said it and I sighed in defeat. She rolled over on her side and groaned slightly but then smiled as she propped her head up on her hand.

"You're going to hurt yourself."

"Naw…I'm already hurt. Besides no pain, no gain."

"Logan was going to run you down some huge lecture about how you shoulda told everyone 'bout you dad, then he decided the pain was punishment enough."

She smiled wistfully then frowned. "I'm sorry. You're prolly in trouble for keeping my secret."

"A bunch of extra training sessions." I shrugged. I knew they were putting them off until after school started or until Allison was moving around again.

"I shouldn't have made you do that. I shouldn't have made you promise."

"You didn't make me do anything. I had plenty of chances to spill."

"But you didn't. You kept both of your promises too. The one not to tell, and the other one to protect me."

"I think I bombed out on the second one." I looked down at my hands in my lap avoiding her look.

"I'm sitting here talking to you, aren't I?" She looked back out the glass door and grinned. "While the doc's away, Hydra will play. Think you can help me up?" I looked up at her surprised to see that she was swinging her legs around and was trying to stand up.

"Hey, you…"

"Hay's for horses. Give me a hand."

"Okay, but I can't promise it'll be very helpful." She grinned as she put her bare feet on the floor and placed a hand on my shoulder for balance.

"I'll be moving around before the end of three days." She stopped leaning on the bed and focused her weight onto her feet unsteadily. Her eyes flew wide though as she lost balance and I just barely caught her before she fell. She threw her arms around my neck and nearly dragged me down as well.

"Maybe you should take it easy." She pulled her head back and glared at me.

"You aren't trying to weasel outta that movie are you?"

"What? No."

"Good, then help me out here." She leaned on me heavily as she took a few wary steps. "See, I'm just a li'l stiff." She let go of my shoulder and took another few steps but tripped over the end of the bed. Again I caught her as she landed face first into my chest. When she looked back up at me her face was flushed causing me to blush as well from embarrassment.

"What's going on here, kiddos?" I froze not daring to turn and look back at the door. I closed my eyes and willed my imagination to stop playing tricks on me.

"Hi Logan." ~_Well, maybe we're both now seeing/hearing things.~_

"Kicks, why are you outta bed?" I helped her stand back up still refusing to turn around.

"Needed to stretch some." She grinned sheepishly at him over my shoulder as I finally turned around.

"It's not what it looks like…"

"If I thought it looked like something, your head would have been separated from your body by now, bub." I slowly nodded as I helped her to sit back down on the med bay bed.

"I'm going now…" Allison looked like she was frozen to the spot as she turned from Logan to me and watched us leave.

"Look, bub, you have a death wish or something? I told you not to be keeping things from me and I find out too late that you are, and now…" Jumpy didn't describe me at the moment; paranoid was more like it. Logan was a short man with an even shorter fuse and he seemed quick to defend any of the girls' honors. Now that Rogue had come back he seemed even more short-tempered then before.

"What's wrong with Rogue?"

"She's not herself."

"I figured that much out." ~_Come on, would someone just tell me what's going on already?~_

"She absorbed someone--completely." We all knew that Rogue absorbing people left a little piece of their psyche in her mind and if she was to hold on too long she could take everything. Logan stopped walking causing me to pause as well in confusion. "Look, you get upstairs and don't let me find you out after curfew again, bub."

I bit my lower lip and headed towards the elevator to go back up to the dorms. ~_So Rogue did it…she pushed the bar and now she's not herself…she's somebody else. That's what Remy meant when he said she was possessed.~_

* * *

****

HYDRA

It was boring sitting in the med bay all the time with nothing to do. I was pretty grateful when Kitty showed up with a pile of my belongings. "I like thought you might like these."

"Thanks." I sat up propped against the pillows as she dropped 'em on the edge of the bed. "What's this?" I held up my new photo album to find it already started.

"Like we thought you might like it if someone put in the pictures from your birthday." I opened it up curiosity getting the best of me. "Isn't Roberto like an awesome photographer?" I nodded silently as I flipped through the few pages. Most of the pictures were candids of people dancing and on the last page was a shot of me slow dancing with Sam. Heart doodling surrounded the photo and Kitty was grinning at me from the chair she sat in next to the bed. "Like you two make a really cute couple."

"Kitty, we're not a couple." I did my best to glare at her but felt like I was failing at the moment.

"Nonsense. Just like look at how cute you two are." I closed the album as I glared at her again. She ignored it as she took the album from my hands and flipped it back open to that page. "You're like totally flirting with him there!"

"Kitty! Stop reading things into it. It was just a dance…"

"Whatever you say. I still like totally think you two should go out." I rolled my eyes as she finally took the hint and left.

* * *

"Well, it seems that you're good to go Miss Williams." I sat up grinning at Mister McCoys release from the med bay.

"It's about time too!" He just shook his head in amusement as I got outta the bed and went to leave. On a table near the door something caught my eye. "What's that?" I stopped and took a better look at the object. It was dark brown wood and oblong. The only thing unusual about it was the red spots that dotted it.

Mister McCoy was slow in answering as he watched me for a sign of recognition. I picked it up to continue studying it and surprised myself when a blade popped out. "It's the knife your father used…" I pushed the blade back into the block of wood and turned it over carefully. Under my closer inspection I could see that the entire thing was stained red with some spots being darker than others. ~_That's my blood.~_

"Do you think I could keep this?" I could feel the anger in me building. Already I was planning how I'd make him suffer from the same fate. ~_But this time, I'll make sure I finish the job.~_

"Is that a good idea." I snapped outta my thoughts and realized just how crazy I was sounding. I felt embarrassed of the thoughts I'd had just moments earlier. ~_Was I just thinking about murdering someone?~_

"It's just closure. You know, if I have it, no one else can use it." He nodded as I left cradling the knife still in my hands.

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Yes **Lupine Draconis** you get a cookie! * Author pulls out a sheet of fresh hot chocolate chip cookies with extra big chunks and offers one to Draconis * 

Okay, now for the big news. I'm gonna change my screen name in about a week or so. I'm gonna change it to **CIAgent Writer**. So keep a look out for that. Hopefully that won't cause to many problems for people. I'm not changing any of my story titles or anything so if you lose track of me just search for my stories.


	15. First Day Part I

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"I can't believe school's starting again already. This totally bites. Ugh…three things I hate and they all start now…Monday, school, and *gag math." Bobby buried his head into his hands as he ruffled his hair. He then looked up and smirked into the mirror as he grabbed his backpack and started to head out.

"Yeah, two more years and we're done. Can't wait to be done with math, too. I'm going to fail this year. There's no way I'm going to pass FST." I stared at my reflection a whole lot less confidently then he did as I got my own backpack rubbing my temple trying to ease the pain of my black eye.

"I don't know what your deal is. You're a jock for God's sake. Start acting like it." He punched me in the shoulder as we walked down to the kitchen to grab something to eat quick before heading to school.

"Lucky you were born that far away so, we could both make fun of distance. Lucky that I love a foreign land for, the lucky fact of your existence."

Bobby paused at the kitchen door leaning his ear against it listening to God knows who singing. "Man someone's in a good mood." He cracked the door open and I think my jaw hit the floor.

"Baby I would climb the Andes solely to count the freckles on your body. Never could imagine there were only ten million ways to love somebody. Le do le le le le, le do le le le le. Can't you see I'm at your feet."

"You sure Beast isn't handing out drugs?" I quickly shut my mouth again as I watched Al dancing around the empty kitchen.

"Whenever, wherever, we're meant to be together. I'll be there and you'll be near and that's the deal my dear." She was dancing and singing to herself over a glass of what looked like tea. 

"That's not drugs…that's sweet tea." He looked at me strangely as he looked back through the crack in the door.

"Thereover, hereunder, you'll never have to wonder. We can always play by ear but that's the deal my dear."

"Y' t'ink a homme could get in dere?" We both turned and stared at Remy. "Y' doin' de stalkin' t'ing again, Sam?"

"Lucky that my lips not only mumble, they spill kisses like a fountain. Lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don't confuse them with mountains."

"Remy's t'inkin' dat he likes dis girl." He pushed past us and entered the kitchen smirking as he went. I followed quickly determined not to let him harass Al after she finally got outta the med lab.

"Lucky I have strong legs like my mother, to run for cover when I need it. And these two eyes that for no other, the day you leave will cry a river. Le do le le le le, le do le le le le. Can't you see I'm at your feet."

"Bonjour, petite." She giggled as she downed the rest of her glass.

"Hi. Hi Sam, Hi Bobby. You guys wanna glass?" I couldn't help but stare at her. Her black eye had disappeared as well as the other bruising that had decorated her face.

"If 's sweet tea like Remy t'inks it is." She nodded as she flipped a glass around in her hand like an expert bar tender and poured a glass out for him.

"Whenever, wherever, we're meant to be together. I'll be there and you'll be near and that's the deal my dear." She turned still dancing as she placed her own glass into the sink.

"How many glasses have you had?" I watched her curiously wondering just how big of a sugar high we were dealing with.

"Um…I remember four, maybe five…I dunno. Thereover, hereunder, you'll never have to wonder. We can always play by ear but that's the deal my dear. It's really helping with all that pain, better than morphine could. I don't even feel my aching ribs anymore."

I slapped my head at the thought. "What's the big deal with that?" Bobby took the pitcher next and poured himself a glass forming ice cubes to drop in the glass. He took a big swig and spit it back out immediately. "What the hell is that stuff?"

"Le do le le le le, le do le le le le. Think out loud, say it again. Le do le le le le. Tell me one more time, that you'll live, lost in my eyes." 

"Jus' tea homme." Gambit downed the whole glass easily as I tried not to laugh at Bobby. Remy didn't even try to hold back as Bobby glared at him.

"Whenever, wherever, we're meant to be together, I'll be there and you'll be near, and that's the deal my dear. Thereover, hereunder, you've got me head over heals. There's nothing left to fear, if you really feel the way I feel."

"Al, what happened to your eye?"

"That's a dumb question Sam, you were there. My father is what happened." All three of us choked or coughed or reacted in some way.

I cleared my throat and kept my eye on her. "No, I mean the black eye is gone. What happened?"

"Oh, that…Kitty and half an hour of my precious sleeping time. This is why I never wear makeup." She shook her head slightly irritated then leaned forward on the counter batting her eyes. I noticed the green eye shadow then and could feel my face reddening at the way she was acting.

"'S a good look f' y' petite." I stamped on his foot and glared at him. "What was dat f'?"

"Rogue?" He grinned sheepishly as he took his glass and left.

"Have fun at school den femmes and hommes." Bobby continued to glare daggers at him as I turned back to Al.

"Are you sure you're in any shape to be driving? No offense, but someone could mistake you for being high on drugs." She shrugged as she grabbed her backpack off the floor and headed outta the kitchen towards the garage. I grabbed Bobby's arm as he shoved a piece of toast into his mouth.

"Food, eating, do you mind?"

"No, we're going to be late and personally I don't want detention on the first day and Kelly's just going to be looking for an excuse to be tossing one of us out today."

"Alright, I'm coming. Just don't mess with the shirt." I let him go rolling my eyes as we caught up with Al.

"Seriously, is this a good idea letting you behind the wheel?"

"You're right." She tossed me the keys to her truck and climbed into the passenger seat. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"I can't drive. You're not eighteen and I only have a permit, and I could scratch it or something…"

"Now you're making excuses. Get in and drive already. Besides now's the time to scratch it, 'cause I'm planning on repainting it anyway."

"Hey, someone forget me?" She pushed a button and the driver's seat flipped forward allowing Bobby to climb in back. "Well, I guess I can live with supervising this little party." I quickly flipped the seat back hitting him square in the nose causing him to sit back. "Stupid people who just need to admit they like each other."

Al just grinned as she stared out the front window. "I think I might have heard something, but then it could have just been an iceberg melting." Bobby frowned and stuck out his tongue at her as I started the engine and pulled the truck out.

"What color are you going to paint it anyway?"

"I was thinking aqua." Bobby groaned and rolled his eyes as we passed through the gates and started to school.

* * *

****

HYDRA

"Hi ya." The secretary looked up at me in a not so pleased fashion. "I'm new and I kinda need to pick up a schedule so I can go bug the teachers instead of you." I shot her a smile as I leaned my chin on my hand, which I had propped up on the counter. 

She sighed as she began tapping the keyboard. "Name?"

"Allison Williams." She dramatically pressed the enter key and tapped her foot against the desk impatiently as she waited on the printer. She picked the schedule up and slid it across the counter at me. "Thanks, ma'am." I took it and walked back outta the office reading down over it.

%Period 1: AP English--Mrs. Janice Cowlsill 119

Period 2: AP Government--Mr. William Tippahei 410

Period 3: Accounting III--Mrs. Ginny Moaramerav 108

Period 4: Lunch

Period 5: Latin III--Mr. Stewart Maxgillmar 337

Period 6: AP Calculus--Mr. Russell Beeninbowgin 213

Period 7: Honors Chem. II--Mr. Ronald Hotjohn 401% (A/N: K-Owl-Sill; Tip-Ah-Hee; More-Ah-Mer-Av; Max-Gill-Mar; Ben-In-Bow-Gin; Hot-John)

~_Oh joy, AP, AP, and more AP. Anyone have a sharp instrument I can impale myself with? Oh wait, I've already been down that road. It didn't work.~_ I walked up and down the halls searching for my locker and thoroughly lost. I finally gave up when I realized I was passing room 128. ~_Well, it would be easier just to go to first period and try again later.~_

I opened the door slowly and poked my head in sheepishly. "Hi, is this AP English?"

"Yes, it is. Now what's your name dear?"

"Allison Williams, but ev'ryone calls me Al or Spanky." There were a few snickers from a group of preppy looking cheerleader types and I shot the one closest to me a smirk. ~_Well, if it isn't our friendly neighborhood soda-**jerk**.~_ She quickly grew quiet as I found a seat towards the back.

"Our first project for the year will be the analysis of poetry." She passed out the books and I allowed myself to zone out slightly as I stared out the window. A small smile played across my face as I watched the gym class stretching and running around the track. I could make out Bobby, Sam, and Ray goofing off slightly separated from the rest of the class.

"For homework tonight I'd like all of you to try and write a poem about something that inspires you. It can be about anything…love, seasons, flowers…" There was a lot of groaning from the guys and me as she listed off possible topics. "…or even sports. Remember poetry isn't about rhyming so don't get yourselves frustrated." 

The bell rang and I grabbed my poetry book up off my desk and ran out into the hall. The mob of students pushed me to the opposite side of the hall and I happened to look up and see my locker. ~_That was luck.~_ I spun in the assigned combination and smiled when it opened on my first try. I stuffed in my poetry book and backpack figuring I didn't really need it for the first day then looked back at my schedule. ~_I take that back, history books are huge and accounting always has multiple texts.~_ I grabbed my blue corduroy backpack back out and slammed the locker shut hurrying to the opposite corner of the school.

I sat down in the classroom just as the bell rang cursing the length of the school. Already there were two large textbooks placed on each desk. I looked down at 'em and groaned. "I'd like to welcome you all to AP Government. As well as the texts on your desk I'd like to have each of you considering purchasing a book that'll serve as a great aid on the AP exam." ~_As if two books isn't bad enough--he wants us to go and get another one.~_

"Alright, for homework, read chapter one, take some notes on it and have this worksheet completed for tomorrow." ~_What is up with these teachers and their massive loads of homework? It's the first day for God's sake.~_

I cursed the god who made me run back to the same corner of the school I'd just left for my next period class. Again I arrived just as the bell rang as I sank down into my seat. "Well, I'm Mrs. Moaramerav and I'd like to welcome you all to Accounting III. I think we'll have a lot of fun in this class exploring the business world." ~_Right explore all you want…I'm only doing this to eventually get a job for the FBI.~_ I smirked as I twirled a pencil in my fingers grateful for a decent sized textbook and a small paperback work book. I flipped through the pages grateful for the familiarity of the journal pages that were just waiting to be filled with what would look like a jumble of meaningless numbers but to me was gigantic math problem. "For your homework tonight, I'd like for you to enjoy yourselves because I'm sure your other teachers have loaded it on for you." I looked up at the woman in shock as the rest of my class cheered. ~_She really is blonde. But that's cool.~_

I slowly walked down the hall 'til I reached my locker and gratefully unloaded my new books into it as I tried to get my bearings and find the cafeteria. I found it after a few mis-starts and sunk down at a table. ~_I suppose I should eat since I only had sugar for breakfast.~_ I looked around me and saw the green chicken they happened to be serving and took it back. I rested my head on the table enjoying the slight roar of noise around me. ~_I find some odd things to be enjoyable.~_

"Er…hello." I snapped up and looked a blonde curly haired girl who was holding a tray of food.

"Hi. Am I sitting at your table? I'm new, I'll just be going." I went to stand up but she set her tray down and grabbed my arm dragging me back down into my chair.

"No it's cool. My name's Gail Gimmenny." (A/N: Jim-Ah-Knee)

"Hi, I'm Al." She raised an eyebrow at my name so I quickly finished. "…lison Williams."

"Cool, I've got a nickname too. Everyone calls me Dimmeny. You know, like a dimwit." ~_Is that a thing to be proud of?~_ Several other girls sat down and none seemed to mind my presence. "That's Rose Maray, Melanie or Mel Badanratu, Kirsten Ghemman, and Jill Facerty. This is Allison Williams." (A/N: Ma-ray; Bad-an-rat-too; Ghem-men; Fack-er-tee)

"Hey y'all." Rose who was extremely thin and had long dark hair looked up when she noticed my accent.

"Are you southern or something?"

"Nope, just hick." I laughed as she continued watching me with curiosity.

Jill who'd sat down next to me picked up the conversation next. "So, where exactly are you from?"

"Pennsylvania. Just an itty bitty town, though." She nodded then grinned as she leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"You'll have to stick around so they quit treating me like the new girl." I smiled as she went back to eating her packed lunch and picked up that there weren't many sugars in her diet. ~_She must be diabetic.~_

"You know I wouldn't have thought anyone would be sticking around us this long." I looked up at Rose surprised. Without a lunch I didn't have anything better to do then watch them. "We're chorus and band geeks. Don't you have cheerleaders or football players to be trying to suck up to?"

"Why should I? The cheerleaders already hate my guts and the football players all try and kill me." I laughed at their shocked expressions. "I'm on the football team so the cheerleaders don't like me and the guys try and tackle me, comprendo?"

"Sí." Rose seemed to be into Spanish but I only knew bits and pieces from the crop pickers who hung out at the orchards back home. "So you're the girl that's on everyone's tongue."

"Hopefully it's good things."

"Mostly about how you got beat up after a practice in the parking lot." I stiffened slightly at the mention of my father's abuse.

"I'd rather not talk about that."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"No, it's cool. It wouldn't be that big a deal except it was my father." They all turned to stare at me now with curious expressions.

"What's up, ladies?" Their shock slowly turned to pure disgust as a guy sat down at the table his arms loaded up with books, which he dropped into the center. I leaned to once side to see around the books and look at him. He was the gangly geeky type and the only thing shocking about his appearance was the fact that he didn't have a pocket protector. "Oh, you're new. I'm Chris Gacy." (A/N: Gay-see)

This time the other blonde girl at the table who I figured was Kirsten, leaned over and whispered to me. "If you ignore him he might go away." I snickered as I pushed the books teetering on the top of the stack so they slid down into his lap.

"I'm Al. Now what are all these for? You do know there's only three periods left in the day and they haven't had the opportunity to load you up for books. So what are these for?"

"My morning classes." He looked slightly off guard by my attitude towards him but the girls all giggled at his confusion.

"Don't you have a locker or something?" I pushed the next book off the top and sent that sliding as well. He caught it before it hit the floor and glared at me.

"Yes."

"Oh, then maybe you're too dumb to know how to use it. I'll fill you in hon, you put your books in it when you don't need 'em." He blushed furiously causing the girls to give up the battle and burst out laughing out loud. He was completely flustered as he stood back up and left.

"Definitely a keeper." Rose grinned at me broadly as she tossed a cookie at me.

"What's this a treat for the puppy?"

"Cualquier trabajo, el perrito." (A/N: Sure thing, puppy.) I took a bite outta the cookie and leaned back in my chair causing it to go back on two legs. ~_This place could be fun.~_

"I don't have a clue what you just said."

"Hey." Another guy came by and sat down in the chair that Chris had previously occupied. He seemed like the cool, collected, and artistic type. I was about to dig into him as well when I realized these girls were in awe. ~_Okay, someone tell me what just happened.~_ "Are you really Allison Williams?"

"Uh huh. And what's you name again, hon?"

"Peter Prunell. But you can call me Pete." (A/N: Prune-l)

"Uh huh. How do you know my name again?"

"Oh, yeah. I've heard everyone talking about this new girl who was shaking up the football team. You fit the bill, so I figured she was you." I nodded slowly still trying to figure out why Rose's mouth was hanging down while she stared at the guy now sitting beside her. "Well, I'll see you at the football game."

He waved and left as I turned my attention to Rose. "Watch it, you'll catch flies that way." She snapped her mouth shut and stared back at me.

"You just talked to the most popular guy in this whole school without flinching."

"Jealous?"

She stammered slightly the frowned. "No. I just…"

"She really likes him but she'll never get the courage up to tell him even if he is a year younger than all of us." Gail smirked as she took a drink of her milk and nearly avoided Rose tipping it up and spilling it into her lap.

"I can relate."

"Really?" Rose looked surprised by my input then her eyes shifted to watch someone walk behind me. I felt a tug at my hair and a chair scraping as it pulled up to the table.

"What are you suddenly too good for this country boy?"

"Hey Sam."

"I see the sugar's winding down."

"Yeah, and I'm feeling really tired now. Don't you ever let me drink that much sweet tea at once ever again."

"Gladly. You scared the crap outta me this morning."

"Come on my singing isn't that bad, is it?"

"Shakira?"

"Okay, strange choice coming from me but still…"

"Man, are you coming are you going to have a tea party with the girls?" Sam sighed at Bobby's smart comment and stood up.

"Catch you later."

I waved as he left and Rose smiled at me knowingly. "Looks like I'm not the only one who has a thing for a junior. He's a jock and everything."

"A quiet, shy, self-doubting, jock," I corrected. The bell rang and I slung my backpack over my shoulder and went in search of my Latin class.

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, it's been a li'l while since I've posted. Sorry about that. I've been suber busy. I don't think I can emphasize that enough. Another li'l side note is that I think my muse decided to hit the road on me and well, that just wasn't a very nice thing for her to do.

Gotta say, I love my readers, and I don't try and piss you off for no reason by not posting. So lets all give a shout for my muse to come home so that I can write.


	16. First Day Part II

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I found my Latin class rather easily and sat down racking my brain to remember what I'd learned the year before. ~_I hate coming back to a class when you remember nothing at all. And it'll be my luck there's some kind of quiz or review test or something like that as soon as she starts class.~_ I sat down in one of the last seats that remained which happened to be near the front. I sighed as I took it and stared at the small Latin book that lie in front of me on the desk. 

"Sum Magister Maxgillmar. (A/N: I am teacher (Title) Maxgillmar.) We'll be doing many things in this class but right now let's get to know our newest student. Estne?" (A/N: How are you?) I groaned as he switched to Latin and racked my brain for the proper answer.

"In dolor." (A/N: In pain.)

"Cur?" (A/N: Why?)

"Injūria." (A/N: Injury)

"Cur?" ~_What's with all the questions? God you'd think he was my damn psychiatrist or something like that!~_

Again I paused trying to remember the right words. "Pater cupiere interfecāre." (A/N: Father wanted to kill.)

"That's terrible." He switched back to English, which came as a relief to me. I also was thankful that not a soul in that classroom understood a word that had been spoken.

I shrugged. "Est femus equum." (A/N: He's horse shit.) This got a small smile from the teacher and enough students understood femus to start laughing. He obviously didn't like the fact that I'd sworn in his precious language but didn't seem to care that much as he condoned my action.

"To warm up into the new school year, I'd like all of you to translate the following two pieces of text. One from Latin to English and the other from English to Latin. Anything you don't finish in class, will be homework. You'll find dictionaries in the back of your texts." I sighed as I cracked the book open to the back and slowly began the task of translating. From English to Latin was more difficult for me so I put that one off as I began translating out of Latin.

Before I knew it the bell was ringing signaling the fact that I had to go to math now. I groaned at the injustice of having two math classes in accounting and calculus. I plopped down in Mr. Beeninbowgin's room and took a seat by the window wishing the day to end soon. ~_What's the deal? You'll only be allowed to watch practice today. Coach isn't going to let you try anything too soon for fear of you getting hurt and then you really won't be able to play Friday.~_

"As I was saying, Miss Williams…what is the answer to this equation?" I looked up at the board silently for a li'l while letting the numbers and letters flow into a sequence. 

In a bored tone I answered her. "Four x times y squared over four." 

He looked back at the board surprised. "Why yes, that's correct." I took to staring out the window again with a sigh. ~_When's this over? Just hand out the homework already.~_ The bell rang and I stood up and pushed my new text book into my backpack and went to leave with everyone else. "Wait a moment please." I stopped sighing realizing there was no way I'd make next period on time if he talked too long. "I have a student who's struggling in FST in my third period class. I could offer you some extra credit if you don't mind tutoring him." 

I shrugged anxious to get going to my next period and avoid detention. "Sure, why not."

"You can meet him tomorrow during lunch if that's alright."

"Yeah, I better get going, next period's on the other side of the school…" I dashed outta the room and ran the entire length of the school to make it just as the bell was ringing. I quickly took a seat ignoring the kids watching me.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here, el perrito." I looked back over my shoulder and smiled to see Rose.

"Hey."

"Can you believe the number of preps in here?" I glanced around to see she was right. Half the seniors on the football team were in here surprisingly and I was guessing their cheerleader girlfriends. "Wanna be lab partners?" ~_It really is pretty remarkable that this many of the guys who can barely remember the plays are in here in a honor's class.~_

"Sure. I'd be afraid that experiments would blow up working with one of them." I smiled as I turned completely in my seat as to be more comfortable.

"That's what I thought too until you showed up…late." She snickered but I smiled as I directed my attention to the front and on the teacher. He was pretty young considering the rest of the teachers I'd seen around. ~_Prolly a coach or something. Bet the kids have a good time with his last name—Hotjohn.~_

"I'd like to welcome you to Honors' Chem. II. You're all highly advanced students so I'll expect you all to know how to behave in a laboratory. But since I can't be certain of that from everyone, we'll have to spend today going over lab safety." There was a collective groan from the entire class. A note was shoved over my shoulder and I glanced down and read it quickly.

%This sucks, want to do something after school? The girls and I are going mall trolling. You're welcome to join us.%

I quickly scrawled a note back on the same sheet of paper and pretended to stretch as I dropped it back onto her desk. %Sorry, I've got practice. Maybe another time?%

She coughed and I could just make out what she said. *Cough. "K" *Cough. I smiled innocently as Mr. Hotjohn looked back at us questioningly.

"Is there something you ladies would like to share?"

"Yeah, Bayville Eagles are going to kick butt Friday night." Rose snickered as I covered both of our butts and the guys got to whooping and hollering drawing the attention away from us. 

The bell rang and we walked side by side down the hall. "Um…you know that guy you were talking to at lunch?" I turned to look at her as we walked through the halls.

"Sam?" ~_What's he got to do with anything?~_

"Yeah…you do know he's a mutant. He's one of those Institute kids." ~_Yeah, so am I. And where's this conversation going?~_

I did my best to remain relaxed and act like her comment didn't matter but was curious. "Does that matter? I mean if you found out tomorrow that Pete was a mutant would you still like him?" I was practically going to pieces inside because for the first time in my life I was worried what someone might think of me.

"I dunno. I guess I'd be a little freaked out at first, but I've known him for a while now and he's a really nice guy."

"So if Sam's a real sweetheart, why should it matter if he's a mutant? Besides, he saved my life, literally." I watched her curiously waiting for an answer.

"Really? Wow, that's soo sweet. And good point. I never thought of it that way."

"God you sound like this other girl I know."

"Why?" 

"She thinks that Sam and I should date, but I can't seem to get it through her head that we're just friends."

"Do just friends save your life?"

"Sure, I guess…maybe…not." She laughed as I struggled to answer her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She waved as I stopped at my locker and dumped the rest of my books into my backpack and headed out to my truck. 

I tossed the backpack into the bed and yanked out my equipment for practice and was greeted by Sam. "Hey hon. Think Coach'll let me practice?"

"Over my dead body." He grabbed his own stuff and kept in stride with me as we both headed towards the football field.

"Watch what you say. You may regret it later." There was a false grin from him as we walked onto the field. What had happened earlier in this parking lot was all too real of an example of how quickly things could come crashing down. I received a few glares from the other guys but I was getting used to it by now. Guys simply didn't like it when girls crossed onto their turf.

"Williams, you're not practicing. Take a seat on the bleachers and have fun watching." I groaned inwardly but did as he said taking a front row seat and propping my feet up on the fence before me. ~_This bites.~_ I'd been prepared for that though and had tossed my portable CD player into my bag. I pulled it out now and popped in Black Eyed Peas.

{What's wrong with the world, mama, People livin' like they ain't got no mamas, I think the whole world addicted to the drama, Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma}

They ran through several plays below me as I watched. Not to toot my own horn, but Ren Mockpost was filling in for me and was doing pitiful. They had him kick a twenty-yard field goal and he couldn't make it. The football hooked way left then fell several feet short.

{Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism, But we still got terrorists here livin', In the USA, the big CIA, The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK, But if you only have love for your own race, Then you only leave space to discriminate, And to discriminate only generates hate, And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah, Badness is what you demonstrate, And that's exactly how a nigger works and operates, Now, you gotta have love just to set it straight, Take control of your mind and meditate, Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all, People killin', people dyin', Children hurt and you hear them cryin', Can you practice what you preach, And would you turn the other cheek}

I frowned at the lines to the song. ~_Sounds like they're singing about the whole mutant problem. But there's hope. Rose's proof of that. At least I think so. If I'm able to tell her the truth and she understands, that's proof that there really is hope for the future.~_  
  
{Father, Father, Father help us, Send us some guidance from above, 'Cause people got me, got me questionin', Where is the love (Love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love, The love, the love, It just ain't the same, always unchanged, New days are strange, is the world insane, If love and peace is so strong, Why are there pieces of love that don't belong, Nations droppin' bombs, Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones, With the ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young, So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone, So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong, In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin' in, Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends, Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother, A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover, The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug, If you never know truth then you never know love, Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know), Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know), Where's the love, y'all}

~_People like this Magneto guy and Apocalypse and Mystique don't help the matters. We need to show the world that mutants are just like people.~_ I smiled as I watched Sam run a play dodging tackle after tackle making a gain of thirty or so yards.

{People killin', people dyin', Children hurt and you hear them cryin', Can you practice what you preach, And would you turn the other cheek, Father, Father, Father help us, Send us some guidance from above, 'Cause people got me, got me questionin', Where is the love (Love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love, The love, the love, I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder, As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder, Most of us only care about money makin', Selfishness got us followin' our own direction, Wrong information always shown by the media, Negative images is the main criteria, Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria, Kids act like what they see in the cinema}

__

~The media only shows the bad guys and never shows the good. It's just like the rest of the world…there's good people and bad people.~ Practice was in full swing and all I wanted was to be down there in the thick of things.

{Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity, Whatever happened to the fairness in equality, Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity, Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity, That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under, That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down, There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under, Gotta keep my faith alive to lovers bound, People killin', people dyin', Children hurt and you hear them cryin', Can you practice what you preach, And would you turn the other cheek, Father, Father, Father help us, Send us some guidance from above, 'Cause people got me, got me questionin', Where is the love (Love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love), Where is the love (The love)}

~_Where is the love? Why can't people see that we mutants can do great things for good purposes?~_

I turned off my CD player and chucked it back into my bag and leaned back on my elbows watching the rest of the practice. 

As the coach called 'em into a huddle, I tossed my bag back over my shoulder and walked down off the bleachers. ~_Maybe tomorrow.~_ I sighed as I passed the guys and headed back towards the parking lot and noticed that it was beginning to get dark. ~_Crap, I still have all that homework to do! Let's see, a dumb poem to write, math homework, government reading and notes, science I'll blow off, and translations.~_ I sighed at the list that would prolly take way too long for my liking.

"Can you believe all the homework teachers laid on today?"

"You're telling me, Sam." I chucked my stuff into the back of the truck and got in behind the wheel not at all anxious to go back and start the pile of homework that awaited me.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"I hate math." I stared at the jumble of numbers that littered the textbook in front of me and groaned for good measure. We were the last one's in the living room still struggling over homework.

"Join the club." Bobby was in the same math class as me and it was obvious we'd both be repeating it next year if these two lessons were any indicator of what the rest of the year was to be like. "Simple review, my ass. I don't remember any of this stuff from last year."

I sighed as I rubbed the sleep outta my eyes. We'd been spending the last three hours on this stuff and had made absolutely no headway. "What's the point? We can find somebody's to copy off before class starts."

"Now that's my idea of homework." Bobby gratefully slammed his math book shut and tossed it into his backpack.

"Yeah, well, just hope Beeninbowgin doesn't hand out a pop quiz or we're dead." I did the same and leaned back on my hands. "God, I'm tired."

"Well, you're not the only one." He pointed past me and I looked back to see Allison fast asleep on the couch with a textbook lying across her chest. "You better wake her. She's going to be awfully sore in the morning if she stays there."

"You wake her then, if you care so much."

"Yeah right. I'll knock her out even more." He grabbed his bag and left. ~_Guess I should. She's got enough pain from that beating she got.~_ I stood up and walked over to the couch to see the rest of her homework littering the ground. I pulled it together into a stack and curiosity got the best of me when a loose sheet of paper fell out. ~_Huh, a poem.~_ I read it quickly then shoved it into the front of a notebook, embarrassed.

"Hey, Al. You gotta wake up." I shook her shoulder but she moaned as she flipped over dumping the book onto my feet. I jumped back howling at the pain that shot up through my foot and leg and tripped over the coffee table landing ungracefully in a heap.

"Who's there?" She sat up straight and looked around and started laughing at me as I slowly got back to my feet. "Oh, it's you, Sam."

"Yeah, the local clown." I balanced on one leg as I rubbed the foot that had just gotten smashed. "Watch where you fall asleep, huh? That book's a killer." She stood up and began pushing her books back into her backpack.

"Sorry. Guess I was more tired then I thought." She looked slightly sheepish for being caught snoozing. "What are you still doing down here?"

"Bobby and I finally gave up on math."

"Oh. What math teacher do you have?"

"Beeninbowgin. He's as mean as they come." She nodded in understanding as she slung her bag over her back.

"I've got him too. Can't give you my opinion since I zoned out the whole period." I gave her a weak smile as I continued to massage my foot balancing precariously on one foot. "Well, um…catch you on the flip side." 

She dashed outta the room leaving me to massage my foot, which I swore was now broken. I sighed as I picked up my own bag and slowly made my way up the stairs by myself.

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Going back to faster uploads. Aren't you happy? Well, hope you liked it.

Okay story behind my new name choice. CIAgent Writer comes from what the sequel to this story will be about. Yes there's a sequel. I don't want to give to much away but the new name probably will anyway. Oh wells.


	17. Friday Night Football

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I walked into first period head throbbing slightly. I had slept in and hadn't had time to bug Kitty for a makeover session to cover the black eye. I glanced about the classroom and grinned when I spotted a familiar quiet blonde. "Hey Kirsten."

She looked up surprised and grinned sheepishly. "Hi."

"You're so quiet, I never noticed you were in here yesterday or I would've said something at lunch." She didn't answer but went back to editing her poem. "What's yours about?"

"My family."

"That's cool." I scratched my head realizing she was a case to crack as well. ~_What's up with these shy people in Bayville?~_

"What happened to your eye?" I frowned as I stared out the window. "Oh, that. Never mind."

"Well, how many of you have completed your poems?" I slowly raised my hand with only about one half of the rest of the class. Mrs. Cowlsill sighed but slowly began calling people up to read their poems. ~_I have to read this! Oh no, I didn't bargain for this.~_ "Give us your poem's name, inspiration, then please read it. Alright, Kirsten, you're up first."

Kirsten looked like she was ready to cry and run from the room. ~_Just a wild guess, but she's not much of a speaker.~_ "Um…well…my poem's called 'TLC' and it's about my family." She slowly and quietly read her poem. I don't know if I pitied her or was grateful that most of the class looked like they were sleeping and didn't seem to hear her.

"Good job, now Allison how about you next." I groaned inwardly but placed a confident smile on as I stood before the class. I calmed my nerves so that my hand stopped shaking but realized I couldn't stop my left hand from doing so. ~_Guess I screwed those nerves up good with softball. That's what happens when your hand is constantly hit by an eighty miles per hour ball.~_ I switched the notebook paper over to my right hand and placed my left one behind my back skillfully covering my nervousness.

I cleared my throat and began reading. "My poem's called 'Everything's Constantly Changing'.

I woke up one day,  
Only to see that nothing was as it used to be.  
But what can you say,  
When everything's gone and done a one-eighty?  
Because everything's changing, constantly changing.

The little girl I used to be  
Is becoming a lady who wants nothing more  
Then to be wild and free,  
Yet able to stand and walk upon a stable floor.  
It's an innocent request that I make of thee.

The arms once loving  
Have become a nightmare that is all too real to me.  
And I'm slowly falling,  
With no body there to catch me and hold me,  
So I continue to fall with no hopes of stopping.

Then out of the blue,  
He's right there beside me, reaching out  
Saying, "I'll catch you,  
And there's no more need for you to doubt."  
What scares me most is that he may just be right.

I truly want to believe,  
But I've been hurt so many times before  
It's hard for me to conceive,  
That this isn't a cruel deception or lure.  
Why is it so hard to believe in love?

But now I'm falling fast,  
And if I don't have faith, I'm going to crash.  
Just give me a love to last,  
Because I need something to hold on to, as  
Everything changes, constantly changes."

"That's very good Miss Williams, but you forgot to mention your inspiration for this piece."

"I…uh…needed to get my homework done?" I shot her a wry smile feeling somewhat embarrassed of the real inspiration that had sat before me all night working on his math homework. Most of the class laughed. I think I'd just given their inspiration rather than my own.

"Think about it a little more. A piece like that has some true inspiration behind it, especially if you wish to get a grade for it. Tell me by the end of the period." I groaned as I sat back down beside Kirsten.

"Can we say blonde hair, football, and a matching black eye?"

"Just shut up. I thought you were the quiet one?"

"I can be…it's just hard to get a word in edgewise between Gail, Jill, and Rose."

"Good point."

"On what? The quiet thing or your inspiration?" She smirked as she shuffled her papers and got ready for the bell to ring. It did and I slowly got to my feet thinking of something that would make for a good inspiration.

"Well, Miss Williams?"

"It's kinda personal."

"That makes it all the better of a poem." I sighed.

"Well, it's this guy I know, he's been there for me in some rough spots and well, he kinda keeps my head above water."

"Well, then I think you've earned your hundred." I released a sigh of relief. "I'd like to ask you something else."

"Um, okay." I tilted my head to the side in confusion. ~_What else does she want?~_

"Do you keep a journal?"

"No…" ~_What's that got to do with anything?~_

"I'd think it be a good idea for you to try."

"I don't exactly have that exciting of a life."

"Then use it to express your thoughts and opinions. You're a very good poet, you can write your poems in there as well."

"I'll think about it."

"You do that." She looked back down and went to work grading papers as I walked outta class and was off to the four hundred hall.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I stood up and dumped my books into my backpack with a groan. ~_I shoulda known there'd be a quiz.~_ "Mister Guthrie, I'd like you to stay after class." I sunk back into my seat groaning. "I'm concerned that you're already struggling with this class." Bobby snickered as he ducked outta the room with everyone else. ~_No fair, he's struggling just as much as me…~_

"I'll try harder…"

"I know you will, but I've also asked someone to help you. If you'll just stay put I'm sure she'll be here in a few minutes." ~_Great, I have enough trouble understanding Al and the other girls at the institute. Now I'm getting another girl thrown at me.~_ I grumbled as I pulled out my text book again and attempted tonight's homework to no avail.

"Sorry, Mr. Beeninbowgin. It's pretty far from my accounting class."

"That's alright Allison." I looked up to see Al standing in the doorway leaning against it panting slightly. She shot me a grin as she stepped inside. "Do you two already know each other?"

"You could say that."

"Well then, I'll leave you two to work." Mr. Beeninbowgin did leave as Allison dropped her bag and pulled a chair over to straddle the back of as she looked at my book upside down.

"Oooh, FST. Not one of my faves either."

"You don't need to help me." I was slightly flustered that Al had been chosen to tutor me. It was hard enough for me to not trip over my own feet in front of her, now I was going to be tripping over math in front of her.

"No, but I want to. So what part don't you understand?"

"Everything."

"Okay, let's start at the beginning. What's two divided by two."

"One." I was curious by the fact that her first question was too easy.

"Alright, forty-five divided by ninety."

"One half."

"Right. Now all trig is, is doing simple problems like that. You've got to break down the sine and cosine functions into fractions, or division problems." She pointed to a triangle that had loomed evilly before but now made sense. "Now what's the cosine of this angle?"

"Three fourths."

"Right. See it's not that bad."

* * *

****

HYDRA

By Friday Coach had given up on Ren's inability to kick and had let me practice. Actually that had only taken one pitiful practice. I was back in the game by Tuesday afternoon. By Friday, the entire school was pumped and ready for the exciting football game.

"Like you need to eat. You're like the star today."

"Gee, no pressure there." Kitty placed a bowl of oatmeal before me and I kept myself from gagging at it's ghastly green appearance. "What's in this?"

"Oatmeal mix, water, and I accidentally spilled something in off the spice rack." She gave me an innocent grin as ev'ryone else dumped theirs out nonchallantly and got cereal. Kitty had me trapped at the table and I took a ginger bite and carefully chewed then swallowed. It tasted horrible and burned going down. "Everyone's going to be like watching you because you're like the first girl to ever play in a guys' sport since like I don't know when here at Bayville."

"It's not a guys' sport, Kitty."

"Like see, that's why everyone thinks you're like so cool. You like spend all your time knocking down all the unwritten rules." My stomach rumbled hungrily but I couldn't bring myself to try another bite of that green goo.

"Hey, Al, who's wearing your jersey?"

"What?" I spun around in my seat to face Bobby who was leaning back on the counter casually.

"Oh come on, don't play dumb. You know every football player's gotta give their practice jersey to someone to wear."

"Well, I'm not going to."

"It's tradition."

"Traditions are made to be broken at some point."

"Don't you think you've done enough damage in the first week of school?" I sighed. Bobby doesn't ever give up when he's latched onto something.

"And who would you suggest I give it to, to wear?" He raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I'm not giving it to you if that's what you're implying." At that moment, Jamie walked into the kitchen and started digging for his cheerios. "Hey hon, you wanna wear my jersey?" He stood up and gasped at me.

"Are you serious?"

"Sure thing." I reached into my backpack and tossed him my jersey and he eagerly put it on proudly displaying number eleven.

"Way cool, wait 'til everyone sees I'm wearing the only girl's football jersey." He practically skipped back outta the room leaving a scowling Bobby.

"Sorry, but he's a lot cuter then you are, hon." He glared at me and instantly froze the green oatmeal giving me good reason to no longer eat it. ~_Well, that just made it worth it.~_

* * *

At the football field that night, I had to be there early so that I could change before the guys showed up and then hang outside the locker room while they changed. It wasn't the most ideal way of doing things, but I'd live with it for now. 

I could make out the band warming up behind the bleachers as we stretched on the field and began warming up. ~_Bet Gail's back there tooting her horn.~_ Eventually we took to the sidelines as the band took over the field for the pre-game show. I watched as they marched in formation playing different styles of music from oldies to pop to some new-age classical. I was right, Gail was right out there marching with 'em all and shot me a grin as she marched past and off the field.

We lost the coin toss and the other team chose to receive so I was out at the very start of the game. ~_No pressure, just the fact that you blow this and you might not get another chance. Like I said, no pressure.~_ The kick went straight and far down the field and into the opposite inzone. A panther caught it and started making his way back up the field but was brought back down near the ten-yard line.

Most of the game was spent running on and off making kick offs, field goals, and punts. The first time I kicked a field goal I got slammed into the ground by an enormous line backer and when I stood back up I had to take off the helmet that had worked its way loose. He made a pretty audible gasp as I readjusted the helmet showing off my long hair. I snickered to myself and decided that enormous jock had made my night.

At one point I looked back into the stands where the band was sitting and saw the girls sitting in the top row with Gail who was still in full uniform and was waving her hands madly. I was half afraid she'd toss her trumpet off the back of the bleachers. I grinned as the others held up those small signs each with a letter so that it spelled out WE ¤ AL. I groaned when I realized Chris was holding the heart but had to grin when I saw that Rose and Pete were at the end sitting next to one another holding posters up of a different sort. Rose's depicted a large dog's head and Pete's looked like a personified eagle that was ready to play football. ~_Guess she took my suggestion and asked him to hang out with 'em. And leave it to the artists to get that creative.~_

* * *

****

BESERKER

"I don't know about you guys, but it's not every girl who can look hot in shoulder pads." I leaned on the fence watching the game.

"Shut up. You think every girl is hot no matter what."

"I think Icepick's gotta problem, how 'bout it Roberto."

"Shoulda seen the way Al blew him off at breakfast this morning. Gave her jersey to Jamie over him."

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt a little." Bobby glared at me and Roberto causing us to both burst into laughter. "Face it man, she digs Sam over you and that's kinda sad."

"Yeah, well, it's about time Sam got a chance. Not everyone can be as charming as I am."

"You're about as charming as an iceberg, Bobby."

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I waited around after the game for Al to finally be allowed to use the locker room. It wasn't quite fair that she had to be early and late all the time but I wasn't gonna complain when it was her issue. I walked outta the locker room to see one of the girls she'd been hanging around with at school. "Hi Sam." She looked nervous but I didn't blame her since everyone knew who were mutants. "Waiting for Allison?"

"Yeah. What's with the dog head?" She grinned as she flipped the poster around so I could get a better look at the painting of the Husky's head with a blue eye and a green eye.

"It's kinda a joke. She made some comment about a cookie for a puppy, so I've been calling her el perrito."

"That's cool." I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets, which I'd had to replace since well, my old one got ruined. 

She shuffled her feet uncomfortably then looked back up at me. "So um…you aren't going to hurt Al, will you?"

"Why would I? Oh, 'cause I'm a mutant that makes me bad, right?"

"Well, it's just that…I dunno. People just don't have much good stuff to say about you guys at the Xavier Institute."

"You do realize Al lives there too."

"She didn't tell me that." She kicked at a rock. "Why couldn't she tell me that?"

"She was probably scared that you and the rest of the school would treat her different, like you treat us."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. I mean, we've never been friends or anything but then again I was always to scared to talk to one of you guys."

"Hey! Wow, I feel special. Two people waiting around on me." Al came walking up practically bubbling over.

"Good game."

"Yeah, wasn't it? I can't believe how great it is to be playing again." She threw her arms around both our shoulders as she directed us all out into the parking lot. "I see you took my advice and talked to Petey boy."

"Yeah."

"Okay, what's the deal. You just spent the entire game sitting next to the guy you have a huge crush on, and you sound depressed."

"Why didn't you tell me you were a mutant?"

Al turned and glared at me. "Why did Sam tell you that I was?"

"I thought you'd already told her." Al dropped her arms as she stopped walking. Rose and I took a few more steps before turning back. "I'm sorry, Al. I didn't mean to…"

"Step on my toes back there? You're always sorry Sam." I looked down at my feet as she sighed heavily. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on Rose, think you can forgive me Slim?"

"Uh huh. Nothing else I should know about is there?"

"Don't think so. Unless Sam thinks there's more to add." She grinned at me as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder again nudging me in the ribs.

"Doubt it. I know I'll end up in some serious pain if I talk to much."

"Then start talking Sam, 'cause the good stuff is always followed up with pain." Rose grinned as she got a small jab to the ribcage.

"I dunno about this. I think I'm gonna have to split you two up." Rose stuck out her tongue and dodged away before she could get another elbowing.

"See you guys Monday!"

"She took that pretty well."

"Yeah, I was hoping she would." She watched as the other girl left and grinned. "You guys need to learn how to talk about this mutant thing on a girl level. All you gotta do is ask if they'd still like their crush if they found out they were a mutant and presto! they're cool with mutants."

"You're crazy."

"I won't deny it. I'm still surprised the little doctors in white jackets haven't come for me yet."

"What little doctors?"

"Read _Insomnia _sometime. You'll understand then."


	18. Too Strong

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

I sat outside on the ballroom balcony enjoying the sun as I researched for my up coming persuasive speech. ~_I swear this teacher's just loading the stuff on. You'd think the class was ending next week, not in June.~_ I sighed though as I continued to read over the scientific information. ~_At least we got to pick our topics. Who wouldn't find it fun to prove the existence of ghosts?~_ I'd been tempted to do one on why mutants should be treated as equals, but I wasn't prepared to stop playing it low key quite yet. Of course people had seen me hanging around the Xavier mutants, but they figured I was simply naïve and didn't know any better.

"What are you reading?"

"'The Scientific Proof of Survival After Death'."

"Fascinating. Wanna play some B-Ball?" I detected a hint of sarcasm and looked up from my stack of papers that I'd piled on my lap as I propped my feet up on a deck table.

"I've really gotta work on this, Sam."

"You've been working on that for the past three hours." I sighed as I leaned back in my seat and shaded my eyes as I looked up at him. "Come on, we need another person. Just a half an hour."

"This is a big part of my marking period grade."

"When's it due?" ~_This is going to sound really dumb.~_

"Wednesday."

"What's today?"

"Saturday."

"How many days do you have to work on it yet?"

"Four."

"That wasn't so hard was it?"

"Reverse psychology isn't going to work on me." I looked back down into my lap and kept reading.

"Do I have to freeze her and personally drag her down to the court myself?" I could hear Bobby's voice from below the balcony and groaned. ~_He wouldn't dare on penalty of death.~_ I glared up at Sam who just shrugged mischievously. "Well?"

"No. I don't have time."

"Sure you do. You can make it." He gave me his best puppy dog eyes, which would normally have melted my heart but I was in a stubborn mood.

"No, Sam." He was being equally stubborn though and grabbed me from behind yanking me up outta my chair and spilling my research into the wind. He shot us both up into the air as I cursed at him. "Damn it, Sam…look what you did…All my work--gone."

I forgot my anger though as we flew through the air and I actually found myself enjoying the feeling of weightlessness. Of course, Sam was still working on those landings, but for him it didn't matter, he was practically invulnerable once going. I crash landed on my butt and skidded to a stop bruising my tailbone. I sat there for a few moments allowing my glare to return at the rude interruption to my work. "Sam, you better start running, 'cause I'm going to kill you if I ever get my hands on you."

"Yeah, yeah, when hell freezes over. You know you want to play." Bobby was standing behind me a basketball spinning on his fingertips. I glared at him too for good measure as I slowly stood up and brushed off my jeans. "And you, once I figure out how to choke you to death, you're as good as gone, Drake." 

"Sure…prove it on the court. First to ten wins." He tossed the ball at me and I caught it. "You and Ray, versus me and Sam."

"All right." I stepped onto the smooth pavement of the driveway beneath the hoop and checked the ball with Bobby. I passed to Ray quickly who shot for an easy point before Sam and Bobby had so much as moved to block. The game continued on for a good half an hour and Ray and I won in the end--ten to eight. "Now, I need to find my research which has gone to all corners of the institute, and get back to work." I shot a glare at Sam who smiled sheepishly.

"No way, I want a rematch."

"Forget it Drake, we won." Ray walked off tossing the ball over his shoulder and with a sweet swish it sunk through the hoop. Sam retrieved the ball as Bobby frowned at Ray's retreating form then turned to me. "Alright, one on one then."

"There's two of you, that's not exactly one on one." Bobby grinned as he ran and jumped up onto Sam's back. "You're completely insane. Are you sure you haven't frozen your own brain, yet?"

"Scared we'll beat you?" Sam flicked the ball up so that Bobby now held it and he checked with me. I rolled my eyes.

"No. You're going to be pretty klutzy up there, this'll be too easy."

"Hey, is that a shot at me?" Sam frowned slightly as Bobby continued grinning broadly.

I drove in and made an easy lay up. "Like I said, easy." I tossed the ball back to Bobby who immediately took a shot and made it without Sam having to even move 'im closer. ~_Okay, so this suddenly became somewhat of a challenge.~_ I went to drive past again but found myself brought to a dead halt as my arm was grabbed. Bobby jumped down off Sam's back and grabbed the ball up and shot scoring.

"Holding!" I looked down at where Sam was pinning my arms to my sides playfully grinning. "You mind?"

"Not at all." If anything he continued to grip me more tightly but not enough to hurt as I struggled to free myself.

"Boys…" I rolled my eyes as Bobby made shot after shot with no one to stop him.

"That's ten."

"You cheated," I spat out as Sam continued to hold my arms down. I didn't know if he was trying to keep me from killing Bobby or if he was just flirting. ~_I'll go with option number one.~_

He leaned over and spoke into my ear causing me to change my mind. "Aren't you glad you chose to play with us?"

"Ugh, you practically kidnapped me, what choice did I have?" I continued squirming in his hold and finally managed to spin myself around and found myself facing him in an even more awkward position now that Sam had my arms pinned behind me and he himself looked slightly awkward as he had to reach around to keep his hold. I blinked a few times trying not to stare directly into his eyes but found it difficult not to since we were the exact same height. 

Both he and I were breathing heavily from the exertion of my struggling against him. "Game's over hon." It took a few moments for it to register and he then let my arms go stepping back.

"Sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I?" He wasn't looking at me anymore but anywhere but me. I cocked my head to the side slightly curious as to how this guy did one-eighties so quickly.

"No, what hurt most was that crash landing of yours. You really need to work on that." I smiled warmly at him hoping he'd decide to do another one-eighty but saw no sign of one coming. I scratched my head and sighed in defeat as I turned to go. "Well, I'm back to square one. At least I saved my research on the computer."

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I heaved a huge sigh as I tried to calm my nerves but found that to be nearly impossible. I knocked on the door and almost hoped there wouldn't be an answer. "Come in."

"Hey, Al."

"Oh, hey Sam." She was sitting on her bed Indian style bent over a laptop. "Did you need something?"

"Um…well…I was wondering…do you remember the deal I made you?"

She stopped typing and looked up slightly confused. "And what one's that, hon?"

"I told you when you woke up that if you got moving around in the next three days…"

"You'd take me to a movie? Sure."

"You wanna go?" She quickly shut her computer and grinned.

"You bet. I could use a break."

"So how come you fought one earlier?" She stuck her tongue out as she reached into her closet and came back out with a hoodie.

"Oh just be quiet, I was in a stubborn mood then. So who's driving?" She picked her keys up off the dresser as she spoke and tossed them at me. ~_Guess that was a rhetorical question.~_

"Guess I am."

"Give the boy a prize." She was all smiles at the thought of leaving the mansion for a night. "Hey hon, I'm not angry at you for that whole homework fiasco this afternoon. I was a li'l peeved at the time, and I just needed to cool off. I did have fun though, playing you guys."

"Okay…"

"You're a sweetheart. I'm practically jealous how you're so forgiving all the time."

"I didn't think you were really mad to begin with."

"Guess I'm loosing my edge." She laughed as we hit the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

While I bought tickets for the latest Jim Carey comedy she stood in line buying snacks. She joined me loaded down with popcorn, sodas, and candy. "What happened to the diet?"

"You only live once. Sometimes you just realize some things are pointless--like diets. Live for today, right?" She grinned as she handed me my share of the junk food and we went inside the theatre.

Two hours and several hearty laughs later we had left the theater and were walking back into the institute. "You guys better get down to the planning room, now!" I stopped and stared after Roberto as he ran past.

"What's that all about?"

"I dunno." She shrugged as she started running after him. I quickly followed in confusion.

"I have some unfortunate news. Juggernaut has been freed and is currently attacking a military base. We must act quickly because at any point he may destroy a nearby dam." Everyone exchanged looks as we wondered how we were going to stop him. Last time we'd only been able to do so because Rogue had absorbed him and had been able to become an equal match.

As we all got into the Velocity Al turned to me in confusion. "What's the big deal?" Juggernaut wasn't called unstoppable for nothing. The only way to bring him down was to remove his helmet and attack him with psychic blasts. Luckily we had four psychics on the team, but still, how to get the helmet off?

"Juggernaut's practically unstoppable is what," Bobby sneered as he got on behind us. "The guy just doesn't stop, for anything."

"So how do we stop him?" She looked around at everyone who were all looking grim. "Well?"

"We have to remove his helmet, so someone can use psychic attacks on him."

"That's it?" She almost started laughing but didn't when she saw that everyone was still down and out. "Okay, now what?"

"It's nearly impossible to get that close to him." She sat back in her seat and stared out the window in thought and didn't stir for the rest of the trip. Everyone was there except for Sarah, Rogue, and Beast who'd all stayed back at the institute. Gambit sat across from me and looked to be asleep except for the fact that he was continuously shuffling cards. Bobby sat next to him and was leaning forward between the seats to talk to Jubilee and Amara. Roberto and Ray sat in front of us and talked in hushed tones. For the most part, everyone was talking, trying to keep their minds off the task ahead.

* * *

****

HYDRA

"It looks as if the only place to land is beneath the dam." Ororo was simply stating the obvious because ev'rywhere else was in a state of ruin.

"I'd rather not, but there ain't any other choices." Logan brought the Velocity down gently beneath the massive dam and I could now see the destruction caused by the powerful mutant. Buildings lay in heaps of rubble and soldiers were in ev'ry direction trying to escape the destructive path.

Juggernaut, or whatever his name was, definitely did not know how to keep a low profile. He came bursting through a solid brick wall and stepped out onto the top of the dam. I watched from several hundred feet below in horror as he brought his fists crashing down and cracked the top open. Water began to spill over as I watched and without even thinking about it I raised my hand and pushed the water back. Bobby took his cue and filled in the gaping hole with an ice wall.

Of course Juggernaut was more brawn then brain, but he wasn't too stupid to realize that someone had just spoiled his fun. He looked down at us collective X-Men standing at the bottom and I think he was most likely smirking beneath the enormous red helmet he wore. "Going up!" Sam grabbed me from beneath the arms and shot us both up to the top of the dam. He dropped me so that I could make a slightly more graceful landing on my feet rather than my butt. I landed in a crouching position allowing the shock to be spread out rather than be absorbed solely by my knees.

"Looks like Xavier got himself a new kid." I turned to face the enormous behemoth and smirked confidently.

"Yeah, and hon, you don't stand a chance."

"What's a puny little girl like you going to do?" I sensed the rest of the team's arrival behind me and my smirk only widened. I stepped forward and he immediately went to throw a bone crunching punch. It was funny to see the shock in his eyes as the blow went straight through me as I disappeared into thin air. I pulled myself back together among the rest of the team where Gambit was tossing charged cards, Beserker was sending out electric bolts, and Cyclops was blasting him full force.

"Tell me again how to get the helmet off." I turned to Kurt who nodded then disappeared with a *bamf!

He reappeared on the back of Juggernaut and flipped a small latch but the giant quickly picked him off like a bug and tossed him back towards us. Kurt slammed into me causing me to fall down as well. I gently rolled his unconscious form off of me as I got back to my feet. 

Kitty had disappeared from view but she came back up behind Juggernaut and was able to undo a latch as well before she too was tossed aside. I didn't like seeing my friends tossed around like rag dolls and was starting to lose my cool. 

Jamie took the next shot and multiplied a dozen times surrounding Juggernaut. This only infuriated the guy even more and all of them got wiped out and the real Jamie was sent flying. Jean caught him with her telepathy and brought the younger boy back down to earth.

"That's it." I stepped forward once more and evaporated. I concentrated on my powers remembering some of the things the professor had been trying to teach me. I felt like I finally understood what Emerson meant in 'Nature' when he said he felt like a transparent eye. 

I was staring down at Juggernaut's back and could see the two latches that had already been undone. I focused on my hand and it appeared outta thin air and undid yet another latch. Juggernaut spun around confused to see nobody there as my hand slipped back into mist. ~_Way cool.~_

"Who's there?" He continued to spin around aimlessly and confused. The rest of the team was staring but went back to attacking him with ev'rything they had. 

I bided my time and repeated the process several more times 'til all the latches had been undone. The next blast from Cyclops sent the helmet soaring into the air and dropped off the side of the dam. 

I found myself struggling to concentrate any more and dropped from several feet up in the air. Immediately Juggernaut began to charge at me. "You…" He didn't get any further with his threat as the psychic attacks began to take effect on him. He fell to his knees holding his head in his hands as I weakly pushed myself up to kneel on my knees.

"Al…" I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Sam looking worried.

"I'm okay. Just tired." He nodded as he helped me to my feet and I found myself leaning on him heavily. I put an arm around his shoulders as he held me up. Obviously I wasn't ready to go that long in my vapor form. "Is it over?"

"Uh huh. Good going." I nodded slowly as I attempted to straighten up my posture and stand on my own two feet. I managed a weak smile as he helped me back down to the Velocity. I sunk back into my seat and closed my eyes but my ears were ringing with the buzz of noise around me.

I opened my eyes to see what the shrieking from Amara and Jubilee was about and gasped as well when I saw that Bobby's temporary fix was letting go. Logan was struggling to get the Velocity into the air and was cursing openly and Storm wasn't even trying to quiet him anymore. 

I slipped up from my seat and went to the closed hatch. Despite the pain in my head I knelt down and placed a hand on the small crack that gave away the door and melted through it so that I was now standing outside.

The roar of the falling water became deafening outside as I ran around to the front of the Velocity to face the crumbling dam. ~_Please work. I can't let 'em get hurt. I can't let **him** get hurt.~_

A large crack that had appeared was quickly widening and starting to let go. The water hit the ground and came rushing directly at me and the Velocity as I concentrated all my power into this one single task. ~_This is all Juggernaut's fault. If something happens to my friends…~_ I could almost feel the electricity behind my eyes as they shone blue with anger. ~_"I believe that your powers may be emotionally connected."~_ The professor's words swam through my mind aimlessly. 

I held both of my hands out in front of me and the water swirled away from me and left the area around the Velocity alone. The ruins of the military base were being swept away on the waves of water around me but I barely noticed. I collapsed to my knees praying they'd hurry and get into the air. 

The crack in the dam split open and the entire dam began to collapse. The force of the water was too much for me to handle and I began to panic. ~_NO! I'm not going to let him get hurt. I can't let my friends suffer.~_

Again the professor's words swam in and out quickly as I felt my emotions switch over to something I'd never really felt before--love for another. ~_Good feelings can accomplish more than the bad.~_ I had no clue where this philosophy had come from but it seemed to work. ~_I'm turning into a regular sap.~_ My eyes shone a bright green as I stood back up on my feet and the water spread apart farther than before. ~_Come on Logan, I don't know how long I can hold on.~_

The engines whined as the Velocity moved into the air and I looked up one last time as it left--me alone. ~_I love you, Sam.~_ I blinked back my tears as my strength failed and the water came sweeping directly at me.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"Like, where's Al?" Kitty's words caused me to spin around realizing that Al had disappeared. I looked in every seat and even glanced into the back but she wasn't to be seen. She wasn't on the Velocity, which meant one thing--we'd left her.

"We have to go back." I ran up to the cockpit not caring how many weeks of house arrest I got from Logan.

"Sit back down bub." ~_How can he not turn this thing around? Why's he being stubborn and if I didn't know that he was about ten times stronger than me I'd try and kill him.~_

"Al's back there." He turned to look at me and I could see that he already knew. His eyes were glassy in appearance and for once I thought he might actually cry.

"There's nothing we can do." ~_What does he mean? Why isn't there anything we can do? We can go back for God's sake. That would be a start.~_

"Why? Why can't we go back? She could be hurt." I looked at the professor and Ororo and the professor looked lost in thought and Storm would only shake her head sadly. ~_What's going on? What aren't they telling me? Would someone please tell me something?!?!~_

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Miss Frost trying to smile warmly at me. "She made the greatest sacrifice."

~_What's that supposed to mean? No…~ _"But why?" I stared out at the water that now flooded the area where the Velocity had once sat. There wasn't a single sign of any living thing down there as the waters frothed white furiously. ~_No, she can't be gone. She's not allowed to go…~_

Sam, there's something that she was thinking as she… I could feel myself slowly beginning to break down on the inside as I stared at the angry waters.

She's not dead! She can't be. I continued to stare at the waters hoping to see her laughing at how stupid I was acting.

Her last thought was...'I love you, Sam'. I gritted my teeth angrily as I turned to look back at the professor, the man who'd given me hope for so long was now stealing it away from me.

"No, that's not her last thought." The professor looked slightly taken aback by the way I was acting. "She's not dead. I refuse to believe it."

I went and sat back down in my seat with everyone staring at me curiously. ~_She's not dead. She's too strong to die like that.~_

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE 

God, I love to kill this girl don't I? Poor Al, always in a life or death situation. She just never gets to be happy for more than a week at a time. Let's see she gets a kiss from Mark, winds up under a pile of rocks, Gets a dance with Sam, winds up nearly dead at her father's hands, rocks a football game, drowns. Life really isn't fair.

****

Qwerty: You'll see the other's reactions soon enough. Rose will remain loyal. 

****

GiveGodtheglory: Thank the heavens for that sweet girl. Yes, rock on tomboys (seeing as I'm one of 'em, so yeah, rock on!) Yes, I totally believe that if you sleep on your textbook you'll do better on a test. Totally forgot to study and it was too late to start, so I slept on it and bingo! A on test.

****

Nie Starwhistler: No worries, if that's all that needs to be said, then so be it.


	19. Life After Death

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"Can you believe these teachers? They've all gone nuts. It's only lunch, and I've probably got four hours worth of homework for tonight."

"It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't procrastinate so much." I barely looked up from my food as I talked with Bobby and Ray.

"We could always get lucky and have an early dismissal." I glanced up at Ray and shook my head silently.

"The only way that would happen is if there was no power or something…" Bobby caught onto Ray's drift and grinned. "Okay, sounds like a plan to me. Melted ice plus electricity times a fuse box equals no school. That's math I can understand."

"Hey Sam." I looked up to see Rose. She looked concerned as she pulled a seat up to our table and sat down. Bobby and Ray just stared at the senior girl gracing the mutant junior table. "Is Al sick?" Bobby practically spit his food out in shock and Ray knocked over his iced tea.

"No."

"Then where's she been for the past week? I thought you'd know, living with her and all." She was now watching Ray curiously as he tried to clean up his mess discretely and failed.

"She's not at the institute anymore." I had no clue what to tell her. I didn't believe she was really dead despite the fact that everyone else had given up looking. But she wasn't sick and I honestly didn't know the truth.

"She went back home?"

"Yeah. That's it…she's back home. Got real homesick. You know the deal." I looked to Bobby gratefully as Rose slowly nodded.

"I wish she'd have told me that. Well, I'll see you around." She stood up and left as I started breathing again. Without realizing it, I'd been holding my breath the whole time.

"Can you believe it? A senior girl…talked to us!" Ray was still in shock at what had just happened and didn't seem to care what the conversation had been about.

"Yeah…about Al." I stood up suddenly loosing my appetite.

* * *

Several weeks had passed and September was coming to a close. I was severely struggling in math and was at the moment trying to suffer through my homework but couldn't concentrate for Amara's music pumping through the walls.

{There's a thousand words that I could say to make you come home, yeah, Seems so long ago that you walked away and left me alone, And I remember what you said to me, you were acting so strange, And maybe I was too blind to see that you needed a change}

I stood up and pounded on the wall separating my room from hers that she shared with Tabitha. "Would you turn that 'N Suck crap off already!"

{Was it something I said to make you turn away, To make you walk out and leave me cold, If I could just find a way to make it so that you were right here, right now}

"Make me Guthrie!" I slammed my math book shut determined to do just so.

{I've been sitting here, Can't get you off my mind, I'm tryin' my best to be a man and be strong, I drove myself insane wishing I could touch your face, But the truth remains, you're, Gone, Girl you're gone, Baby you're gone, Girl you're gone, Baby girl you're gone, You're gone, You're…}

I stopped outside her door just short of pounding on it with my fist hanging in the air. I could feel my heart breaking all over again as I stood there listening to the stupid song.

{Now I don't wanna make excuses, baby, Won't change the fact that you're gone, But if there's something that I could do, won't you please let me know, The time is passing so slowly now, guess that's my life without you, And maybe I could change my everyday, but baby I don't want to}

My fist fell softly against the door as I felt my chest tighten at the pain of thinking about Al. "What?" Amara opened the door and glared at me.

{So I'll just hang around and find some things to do, To take my mind off missing you, And I know in my heart, you can't say that you don't love me too, Please say you do, yeah}

~_She did say that she loved me, and now she's gone.~ _"Could you please turn that down?" I looked down at her sadly as her demeanor changed.

{I've been sitting here, Can't get you off my mind, I'm tryin' my best to be a man and be strong, I drove myself insane wishing I could touch your face, But the truth remains, you're, Gone, Girl you're gone, Baby you're gone, Girl you're gone, Baby girl you're gone, You're gone, You're…}

"Okay." She seemed surprised that I wasn't yelling and screaming like Bobby woulda been. "You okay?"

{What will I do if I can't be with you, Tell me where will I turn to, baby who will I be, Now that we are apart, am I still in your heart? Baby why can't you see that I need you here with me?}

"Peachy." She looked slightly confused as she shrugged and turned to turn down the music. I left to go back to my hopeless case of math homework.

{I've been sitting here, Can't get you off my mind, I'm tryin' my best to be a man and be strong, I drove myself insane wishing I could touch your face, But the truth remains, you're, Gone, Girl you're gone, Baby you're gone, Girl you're gone, Baby girl you're gone, You're gone, You're…}

~_She's gone. Just get over it and forget about her. Only problem is…I can't.~_ I stared at the math book and sighed in defeat.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I opened my eyes and for awhile I thought I musta been dreaming. For God's sake I was seeing fish swimming past, of course I was dreaming. 

"This is cute…" I choked on the words as water flooded into my mouth and I quickly shut my mouth. ~_What the hell?~_ I was standing on a large rock and all around me lay the ruins of the military base. Only problem was, I was underwater and wasn't struggling to breathe, so long as I kept my trap shut. I turned slowly to look around and jumped back as a fish swam past my face. ~_Okay, slightly freaky.~_

I kicked off the rock and swam to the surface. When I broke the surface, I treaded the water staring up at the night sky. ~_How long have I been down there? Did they already come looking for me and give up?~_ I felt tears threatening to spill and blinked 'em back determinably. I swam to the closest shore and collapsed onto it as I closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness. ~_I'll figure out how to get back after just a quick nap…~_

* * *

****

PSYLOCKE

"I'm like beginning to think you're like cursed or something." I looked up at Kitty who was standing in the doorway to my room. One third of it was now taking on a stale appearance and showing the lack of life. It was funny, a while back it had been Rogue's part that looked unlived, and now the girl had returned, changed, but was back none the less. Now Allison was gone and her side of the room was taking on a similar appearance to the one that Rogue's had had.

"I'm beginning to wonder that as well, luv." I sighed as I set down my book and paced about slightly. I glanced at Al's selection thinking maybe I'd find something slightly more interesting there. I think my jaw dropped at the collection of hardbacks. ~_Don't tell me she's actually read _War and Peace_. That's too much.~_ "I just keep thinking she'll be back. Rogue did." I remembered how Sam had come in a few days after it had happened and had asked to borrow _Insomnia_ from her set. Now I hardly saw him without it as he struggled to get through the huge book.

"Yeah, like, we can always hope. But it's been a month…" I sighed as I replaced the enormous book back onto her book shelf. She was the stubborn type. I could just imagine someone once telling her that _War and Peace_ was an impossible read and she'd probably done it just to prove them wrong. 

"What happened to the optimistic Kitty Cat?"

"I guess I've seen people get hurt so many times that I'm like beginning to believe that even though we're X-Men that we're like not invulnerable or immortal."

"Yes, that's true. But we stick together." I closed my eyes trying to remember why we'd ever quit searching. Sam had insisted that we go back and eventually we had after the dam had completely given way and the area had stopped changing with the rushing water. However, the professor himself seemed doubtful that she'd been able to survive. None of us knew what he'd told Sam via ESP but we all knew it had upset him greatly. "I think I'm going to check the area once more. I haven't anything to do anyway."

"Lucky bum, I've like got school to go to."

"It's your last year, luv. Enjoy it."

* * *

I'd convinced Logan to take me back to the dam sight for one last check. He grumbled that by now someone, anyone would have found her if she was still alive. As we stepped off the Velocity I looked about and opened my mind up, hoping to sense someone's thoughts. Nothing came to me though but Logan was already stalking towards the water's edge. "Do you smell something?"

"I don't know. Maybe." I quickly followed him as he pushed through the brush and as we finally broke through to the edge I gasped. 

Lying face down half in the water and half out was Allison. I rushed down to her side and carefully turned her over. "Bets…five more minutes…I'm too tired for the Danger Room…" She spoke softly in her sleep as she continued to roll over on to her side using her hands for a pillow. There was a striking blue streak of hair that fell over her face.

"A month later, and the kid's sleeping." Logan rolled his eyes as he lifted her up and carried her back to the Velocity. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked groggy.

"I can walk you know." Logan looked shocked that she was speaking coherently and she squirmed out of his arms and landed on her feet. "It's about time you guys came for me. What took you so long?" She placed her hands on her hips as if we'd left her on purpose a month ago.

"Luv, it's been a month. Where have you been?"

Her demeanor changed as she slumped slightly in shock. "A month…that's not funny." She looked at Logan hoping he'd tell her it was just a joke but he only nodded solemnly. "That's not possible…I…I was underwater for a month?" She stared past us to the crystal blue waters of the lake that had formed. "We have to go back."

"Yes, your mother will be really glad to hear from you."

"Yeah, Mom…" She looked far off as she continued to stare into space. I could just pick up what she was thinking. …and Sam.

I felt the corner of my mouth twitch up into a smile. ~_Kitty's going to flip.~_ "Let's get you home, luv." She snapped back to and smiled as she tucked the blue streak back behind an ear.

"Can I have a huge glass of sweet tea?"

"NO!" Logan and I said it that same time causing her to step back slightly and laugh.

* * *

****

HYDRA

As I stepped of the Velocity to reenter the institute I suddenly became anxious. ~_What if he hates me now? What if ev'ryone hates me for doing that and not saying goodbye or anything? More importantly what if Sam's gone and gotten a girlfriend in the meantime? I've been stupid enough to screw things up before.~_ "It's okay, luv." Betsy placed a comforting hand on my shoulder as she led me to the med lab. Of course I had to get a check up from Doc McCoy. I wasn't happy about it, I felt fine.

He eventually let me go and I was allowed to change into some casual clothes and go back to the upstairs part of the mansion. When I'd looked in the mirror I was shocked to see the blue streak that now hung at the side of my face. I pulled it back into my ponytail with a frown. 

I walked around slowly not anxious to go into a room as crowded as the living room quite yet. As I paced up and down the hall considering if I should just go in and get it over with Kitty came phasing out. "Like oh my God, Allison!"

"Hey girl." She jumped me and gave me a bone-crushing hug, which I meekly returned. "It's good to see you too."

"Where have you been?"  
"Would you believe the bottom of a lake?"

"You're like totally pulling my leg!" I shook my head and she hugged me again.

"I'm just like so glad you're okay."

"Me too." She grabbed my arm and dragged me through the door and into the living room where nearly ev'ryone was working on homework. "Hi." Ev'ryone stopped what they were doing and stared at me making me feel slightly self-conscious.

The girls all jumped to their feet and rushed up to make sure I was real. "Wow, you're still in one piece."

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"What'd you do with your hair? It looks cool."

It was Amara's words that made my head stop spinning for a minute. "Sam's been worried sick." My eyes dropped at the thought of Sam. ~_I tried protecting him and prolly hurt him more instead.~_

"Hey girl." Bobby came walking over with the rest of the guys minus Sam.

"Hey guys."

"You know the football team sucks. Hasn't gotten a field goal in a month." I smiled at Ray's sarcasm as I tried to free myself from the suffocating crowd.

"I…I could use some sleep." Ev'ryone seemed to understand as they let me go. I ran up the stairs two at a time as I headed for the dorm rooms.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I just didn't have it in me to spend time downstairs with everyone else any more. It was sickening to watch the constant flirting between Bobby and Jubilee and even Ray and Amara were getting on my last nerve. I was about to give up and go downstairs to ask Bobby for help with math when there was a knock on the door.

"I heard you needed a math tutor." I gritted my teeth as I turned in my seat.

"I don't need…Al?" She grinned from the doorway.

"Well, if you don't need me…" She went to turn away as I jumped to my feet.

"Where the hell have you been?!?!" She stopped still smiling as I took in her appearance. She looked exactly like she always did except for there was now a bright blue streak running through her hair. I grabbed her by the shoulders unsure as to whether or not I was dreaming.

"Would you believe I've been sleeping at the bottom of a lake for a month?"

"You were getting your beauty sleep while I was worried sick?"

"I'm sorry, Sam. If I woulda known…" She threw her arms around my neck and started sobbing into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

I patted her back awkwardly still in shock that she really was alive. "We all thought you were dead."

She leaned back tears glistening in her eyes. "Even you?"

"I didn't want to believe it, but the professor told me what you thought as it happened…and…"

"I meant it." She leaned back into my shoulder as she hugged me. "I do love you and that's scaring the crap outta me right now." I led her to the edge of my bed and forced her to sit down. I stood awkwardly for a moment then sat down next to her keeping a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm glad you're back. You've seriously gotta quit this hero business." She pulled back slightly as her eyes paled into blue from their bright green.

"I wasn't trying to be a hero…I…I just couldn't stand around and see you guys get hurt. It's the same way as back at that cave, Sam. I just couldn't stand around and do nothing anymore."

"But that was different. At the cave, the worst that coulda happened was you got hurt, and you did. Back there at the dam, you coulda died. You didn't think about how everyone else would feel if you were gone."

"I know…I was…I could only think about how much…how much it would hurt me if something happened to you." I refused to let myself get broken down at the moment. I knew that she was already cracking and that I needed to get some things said before I too broke down.

"Your mom. I thought she was going to die on the spot. All the people who love you were…they were heart broken, Al. None of them knew what to do."

"Including you?"

"Yeah, including me. I thought you were gone and all I could do was kick myself for not stopping you. For not doing something." A single tear fell down her cheek and I reached up and brushed it away. "Don't cry. You've almost got me bawling too."

She choked back a sob as she leaned back into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You're back, and everything's gonna be okay now." I bit my bottom lip in an attempt to not say something stupid. I was just so glad she was safe and I didn't have a clue what to do now that she was back.

She leaned her head onto my shoulder and sat there sobbing. I brushed back the hair in her face as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders giving them a gentle squeeze. Instead of pulling my hand back, I let it rest on her damp cheek. She lifted her own hand up and held mine for a moment before pulling it down. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I barely heard what she was saying I was too much in shock staring at her hand in mine. It seemed small and fragile which was hard to believe coming from her. Her sobbing slowed to a stop and she pulled her hand away to brush away the remaining tears. All I could do was stare at the spot where her hand had once been.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

The song is 'Gone' by *N Sync.

****

Pomegranate Queen: I'm kinda taking a break from Romy. God, I've run dry on things to write in that area right now. This story is and pretty much soley about the trials and tribulations of Allison. But I'm seriously trying to cope with my Romy writer's block and it's just not working.

****

Qwerty: Find your answers, bud? Hope so. This chapter kinda saves the day, brings new life to the story.

****

Nie Starwhistler: Yeah! You do have a vocabulary. I didn't doubt you for a second, bud. See, no dead Allison. She's alright and in one piece!


	20. Friends 4Ever

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

The weekend had slowly passed after returning to the institute. My mom was calling nightly to make sure her baby girl was still okay. The first conversation I'd had with her she'd bawled for an hour straight before she began to even talk back to me. Of course it must have been hard for her to believe that her daughter who'd supposedly been dead for a month was on the other end of a phone line.

I'd also spent the weekend trying to relax before I had to make up a month's worth of schoolwork. The workload would be massive considering all the difficult classes I had.

I quickly adjusted to having a second room mate and she seemed cool for the most part. She was heavily into angst and hard rock but I could deal with it. She was interesting to say the least; definitely insecure about her powers.

[I stepped outta my room on my way down to breakfast and accidentally bumped into Rogue as she was going into our room. "Oops sorry."

I was halfway down the hall when her voice stopped me. "That's it?"

"I'm sorry I bumped into you?"

"No, Ah mean ya didn't freak out or anythin'."

"I bumped into you…in a place this crowded it's impossible not to do that sometimes. I gave up freaking out a long time ago."

"Ya not scared of mah powers though?"

"Um no. Should I be?" She stared at me with wide green eyes in amazement.

"Everyone's scared of meh. One li'l bump could cost ya ya life."

"That's a pretty rough policy. Think you should take it easy there." I smiled at her but she only frowned even more.

"It's not that Ah want ta, Ah can't control mah powers."

I stopped and considered that for a moment. ~_I thought it was tough having my powers connected emotionally.~_ "Oh…look I'm sorry. If you like I'll be more careful, okay?"

"It's not for mah sake, it's for yas."

I smiled back at her. "Yeah, well, I like living dangerously."]

I'd also spent most of my time avoiding Sam as much as possible. Of course completely avoiding him was outta the question since I had daily training sessions in the Danger Room, which made avoidance impossible because contact was mandatory. But other than that, I didn't speak a word to him. I cared about him a lot and it was scaring me to death. Hell, it had almost killed me twice now.

"Like I can't wait for the Sadie Hopkins Dance." I looked up as Kitty followed Betsy into our room and chose to ignore the conversation as I went back to my photo albums. Of course the whole school would be buzzing over the upcoming dance where the girls asked the guys out. I'd already decided not to go and spend the night catching up on the various lab reports that I most likely had stacking up. "Like who are you asking Al?"

I didn't even look up. "No one. I'm not going."

"You like have to go. It'll be like so much fun. Besides you can ask _Sam_." I groaned inwardly realizing that I'd been pretty transparent about liking Sam for the first day that I'd been back.

"I'm not going." Giggling, she bounced on my bed sending a stack of pictures flying up into the air.

"Like you have to go." I held an album up to my face and pretended to find it fascinating.

"I don't have to do anything but catch up in school." She pouted as she pulled the album away from my face. "Cut it out Kitty. Curiosity killed the cat you know."

"Well, like it's good thing I'm a kitty and not a cat. Like why have you been avoiding the poor guy?"

"Because I'm busy. Now if you don't mind…"

"Like, nope I don't mind in the slightest. So, what's the real reason?"

"You know luv, I could just take a little peek…"

"Do that and die." I glared from my purple haired roommate to the girl who roomed next door lethally. "I'm serious, I don't want to talk about it."

"Like why not? It's so obvious that you like him and he likes you so like why can't you just like get over your pride and like ask him out?"

"I can't even count the number of times you just said 'like'." She pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look serious.

"Why don't you just ask him?"

"So the kitty-cat can go a sentence without saying 'like'."

"Stop trying to change the subject and like spill already."

"Whoops, there it went." I pulled up another album and tried again to ignore her. She was being pretty adamant though as she removed this album from my hands as well. "Look can't you take a hint already?"

"I thought we were friends?" She was getting all weepy looking as I glared at her.

"God, would you cut out that puppy dog eye crap." If anything she got worse as her bottom lip trembled. "Of course we're friends."

"Then friends can tell each other everything."

"Not ev'rything. And this is falling into the not ev'rything catergory." She pouted some more as I fell back groaning. "I like him, okay. Are you happy?" (A/N: catergory isn't a spelling error. That's how hicks say it.)

"Now why don't you ask him to the dance?" I placed my hands over my eyes and contemplated it. ~_Why can't I ask him? 'Cause I've never broken down before in front of anybody. Now I've done it in front of this guy and I can't stand to face him.~_

"I just can't. I hurt him too bad."

"Is that like it?"

"Isn't that enough?" I sat back up facing the smaller girl. "I acted like a total idiot back there and now…I've screwed ev'rything up."

"Now who's using 'like'?" I glared at her and she went back on topic. "You…haven't screwed anything up. You just…need to talk to him and stop ignoring him. He totally digs you and…you just need to make his day and talk to him again." I could tell that ev'ry time she paused she was fighting the urge to say 'like' and I fought the impulse to laugh at her seriousness.

"I guess you're right."

"Like, of course I am. Now just get your butt moving and ask him already." She grinned as she pushed me off my bed and towards the door.

"Not now…"

"And like why not?"

"It's past curfew…" I was grasping at straws and was desperate for an excuse to put it off.

"Oh, like you're right. Gotta run." She did just that as she ran through the wall connecting our two rooms and I collapsed back down on my bed.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"Has Al asked you to the dance yet?" I looked over at Bobby who was smirking widely. Jubes had asked him the day before and he was constantly looking to rub it in on somebody.

"No." I looked down at my shoes wondering why. ~_I don't get her. Hell, I don't get any girls.~_

"Wonder what her deal is? She seemed real eager to see you."

"Yeah." I let my thoughts float back to the first night she'd been back. We'd probably sat there for an hour or more while she cried into my shoulder. ~_Well, at least you're a good shoulder to cry on. That's about all the good you seem to be right now.~_

"Earth to Sam." I looked up realizing I'd just missed a huge chunk of Bobby's talking. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry, what'd you say?"

"Man, I'm starting to worry about you. You're even more out of it now that she's back."

"I just don't understand girls, period."

"Nobody does. They're impossible." I ran a hand through my hair nervously as I followed him downstairs for breakfast. "It took me all summer to get Jubilee to give me a second glance."

I sighed in frustration. Jubilee and the other girls were mysteries as it was but Al seemed different. She was tough as nails, honest almost to a point of being blunt, and not about to let anyone stop her from doing what she wanted.

Al came around the corner and nearly smacked straight into the two of us. "I was just looking for you Sam, could I talk to you…" She eyed up Bobby quickly before looking back at me. "…alone?"

"Yeah, sure." She took my arm and led me back the way I'd just come. I glanced back at Bobby who was giving me thumbs up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" She glanced down at her feet and shuffled them nervously. "You know that dance, Friday night?" I nodded slowly. "You wouldn't have a date, would you?" I shook my head slowly then feeling like my brain shoulda been rattling by this point. "You wouldn't want to go with me, would you?"

I could feel a smile beginning to tug up on my mouth as I finally spoke. "You bet." She looked up from her feet finally smiling faintly.

"Okay. Thanks, you're a hero, Sam. I was afraid Kitty might fix me up on a blind date."

"Oh." ~_That's what this was about. She didn't want Kitty to play matchmaker.~_ She turned and walked away as I sunk down along the wall feeling like the biggest loser the world had ever known.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I slowly woke up the next morning and at first I thought I was reading my alarm clock wrong. ~_Oh my god it's already a quarter 'til eight!~_ I literally jumped up and ran around the room like a chicken with it's head cut off as I looked for clothes to wear. I finally found my backpack tucked away underneath my bed as I glanced down at my watch. ~_Five minutes til. Ev'ryone'll be gone by now.~_ I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen in search of a bite of anything that could be classified as breakfast.

"What are you doing up Kicks?" I barely glanced at Logan as I shoved a slice of bread into the toaster and tapped my fingers on the counter impatiently.

"It's called school. And…" I looked down at my watch and groaned as I forgot the toast. "I'm late!" I ran back out without breakfast and dashed into the garage for my truck. I broke several speeding laws on my way to school and barely made it inside as the first of the bells was going off for homeroom.

I crashed into a seat in first period slowly rubbing my temples. I'd struggled with my locker for the last ten minutes and if that was any sign of what was to come, I'd be cutting out by the end of third period. Kirsten silently sat down on the opposite side of the room causing me to wonder what was going on. ~_You'd a thought she'd be happy to see me.~_ I was about to move over when the bell rang and I was outta time.

I didn't see any of the other girls until lunch and when I sat down at the table they were all giving me the cold shoulder except Rose. Rose quickly dragged me outside for a girl talk. "Where have you been?!?! All your friends from the institute would tell me is that you weren't there anymore. And what'd you do with your hair? I love it!"

"I'm really sorry, it's kinda a long story."

"Well, then you better start talking."

"We were in this fight and long story short a dam was coming apart and I held back all the water so that ev'ryone else could escape and ended up lying on the bottom of a lake for a month." Her mouth moved silently up and down several times before anything came out.

"What exactly were your powers again?"

"I can manipulate water." I glanced around nervously as kids were watching us and snickering.

"Oh."

"Is there something that I should know? Like why the others are acting like an ice queens?"

"Well, when you disappeared, everyone started talking. You know at first everyone assumed they moved you because of your father, then someone found out you were a mutant and it all went down hill from there." I smacked my forehead as I sat down on the grass silently. "I'm sorry, I tried sticking up for you…but…"

"It's okay." I sighed as I looked back up at her. "I'm just glad we're still friends." She nodded silently as the bell rang.

"See you in last period. We've got lab today." She waved as she walked back inside the school and I sighed as I picked up my bags and headed back in as well.

* * *

"So are you going to that dance?"

"Yes."

"Taking Sam?"

"Yes."

"So why don't you sound excited?" I sighed as I glanced at Rose over my lab goggles. She giggled because of the stupid look I must have had but it couldn't be avoided when wearing safety gear.

"I'm putting myself on a guilt trip." I picked up the potassium with my gloved fingers and dropped it into the water causing it to fizz and burst into flames.

Rose took a stirring rod to the solution as she kept up the third degree. "Why in the world are you doing that?"

"I dunno. I just feel bad. I kinda lied to him."

"You either did or you didn't lie."

"I did lie to him. I made up some dumb story to cover the real reason I asked him to the dance. Now he prolly feels like I'm using him and basically that's what I lead him to believe. Why are we talking about me? What about you asking Pete?"

"I haven't gotten up the courage yet."

"Well, I'll ask him for you."

"No! I'll do it…just in my own time."

"You planning on still being here next year?"

"Shut up." I stuck out my tongue at her as we kept working on our lab. "I bet by now someone else has already asked him anyways."

"Doubt it. For being just a guy, ev'ryone gets pretty tongue tied around him."

"Everyone but you."

"But I've already got a date, so I'm no competition to you. Besides, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I went and asked the guy you liked knowing you liked him."

"Okay fair point there." I placed the beaker into the sink and began rinsing it out. I jerked back in surprise when it started sparking and remembered the potassium that we'd put into it. Rose snickered silently as she helped to start cleaning up too.

"Do you think you could help me with all these lab reports I have mounting up?"

"Yeah, sure. What kinda help?"

"Just some pointers or anything he might have told you guys in class that I missed out on."

"Sure thing…lets see. With the lab we did on electromagnetic spectrums…"

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Qwerty: Awww….that was sooo very sweet! * Author graces Qwerty with her biggest and best smile as she bats her eyelashes.

****

Nie Starwhistler: Hmm…I'll see if I can add a lil something later on for you. No guarantees on the ROMY since this is turning out to be a SAL. Like I said, I'll see what I can do. I don't really like to force things into my story though. Hmm…so forgive me if it sounds a little forced.


	21. The Dance

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

Of course Kitty came flying into my room Friday afternoon bubbling over. "We'll like both get ready together!"

"I just realized that I can't go…I don't have anything to wear."

"Don't worry, I went shopping for you. Same story with your makeup, and accessories, and everything." She grinned from ear to ear as she dumped a shopping bag out on my bed. Out rolled a bunch of water-based make up, a knee length blue skirt, blue knee high boots, a white blouse that cut low and tied at the bottom.

"No way. This is practically screaming Britney Spears." (A/N: envision Britney school girl look)

"It like so does not." I glared at her as she pushed me into the private bath with the new clothes. I came out looking like a Britney clone. "Okay, like maybe just a little."

"I'm not wearing this." I glared at her as I turned to my closet in search of something else to wear. ~_I shoulda known better when Kitty said she was going shopping yesterday.~_ I came out with a blue vest that matched perfectly. I pulled it down over top of the blouse and smiled at the reflection in the mirror. It was a more artistic look and I folded back the cuffs of the blouse so that they flared slightly. "That's better."

Kitty nodded in approval at the slight alteration as she pushed me down into a chair and began working on hair. She pulled back all my normal colored hair and twisted it up and used a large claw to keep it up. My hair spilled back down over the claw and looked like a fancy bun despite it's simplicity. She left the blue streak hanging down by my face and I tucked it back behind my ear outta habit. "Stop that, it like totally completes your look."

"I don't like it. I think I'm going to get it dyed to match the rest of my hair." She sighed as she spun my chair around and began applying the makeup. I sighed in defeat as I closed my eyes and let her have at it. She used a sea foam color eye shadow and applied light shades of blush. I pouted as she applied the sparkly lip-gloss but didn't make any comments.

"There, perfect." She spun me back around so that I could look in the mirror. I didn't even recognize the girl looking back at me. It wasn't often; okay, it wasn't at all, that I used make up so it was slightly unusual to see what I looked like with it on.

"I can't go out, not looking like this." I began to feel panic build in my throat as I continued to stare at the girl in the mirror.

"Like why not? Are you still like worried about Sam?"

"No…I…I just can't do this." ~_I shouldn't have lied to him…that's my problem.~_

"Lying's never a good idea, luv." I spun around to glare at Betsy.

"And poking in other people's minds isn't a good idea either." She remained cool under my wrath as I could feel the electricity prickling behind my eyes. 

"Sorry, but you were projecting your thoughts pretty loudly. Go and have fun. Try and act normal, for once." I sighed realizing that she was right. I often found myself thinking too loudly around the psychics and so far nothing bad had crossed my mind at those times. Although I sometimes found myself thinking evil thoughts about Jean during training but she never reacted. She was prolly used to it by now.

"Like I need to get ready now. Catch you downstairs in a bit." Kitty disappeared through the wall and I continued to sit in the chair no longer staring at the mirror though.

"I just can't help but feel like I'm going to hurt him."

"You're hurting him more by avoiding him." I looked up at Betsy who was looking back, eyes filled with concern.

"I know. I just…I've never shown anyone my weak side, and now he's seen it…I don't think I can face him."

"And yet he still likes you. He doesn't see you as being weak, but as being one of the strongest and bravest people he's ever met." I nodded silently as I wrung my hands in my lap. "I know you like him. It was hard for all of us, the psychics at least, to not hear your thoughts that night. It was a brave thing for you to do, sacrificing yourself that way for him, luv."

"Oh God, you mean Jean heard that too?" Betsy avoided my eyes for a li'l bit then smiled wryly.

"Actually I don't think so. She was pretty tired and I don't think she was hearing much of anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, luv." As Betsy spoke Rogue came rushing into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. "What's the matter, luv?"

"Would someone tell that boy ta stop pacing an' ta watch where he's goin'?" I looked at Rogue curiously wondering what had gotten her upset. "He practically ran inta meh!" I stood up and opened the door to see Sam pacing outside and had to laugh. ~_Can someone say de javu?~_

Who is it, luv?

It's just Sam. See you later.

"Sam, you seriously need to stop spooking my room mates. Rogue's in there having a panic attack 'cause she thinks she might have killed you." He looked up surprised that someone was talking to him and managed a weak smile.

"Hey."

"Hay's for horses. Look I need to tell you something…I kinda led you to believe something that wasn't true the other day." I watched him as he glanced at me curiously. "I made you believe that the only reason I asked you was because…Kitty was going to fix me up with someone. That wasn't true…I asked you because I really wanted to ask you." He sighed in relief as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I was afraid to admit to myself that I really like you because of what happened. I thought you'd see me as being weak or something." I stared down at my new shoes wondering why they had to be so uncomfortable.

"What? No, never." He placed a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "You're the toughest person I know. I'd never think you were weak."

"Thanks."

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

It was hard for me to believe that Allison had been avoiding me all week because she was feeling insecure. The toughest girl I'd ever met had insecurities just like everyone else. All it had taken though to snap her out of it was a li'l reassurance and she was back to her old self.

"You know the last time they had this dance, there were a bunch of monsters roaming around."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope, Kurt brought them through from another dimension by accident." She looked as if she was trying to decide whether or not I was joking or being serious.

"You look really pretty." She turned to look at me and laughed as we walked inside the school gym for the dance.

"Suck up."

"No, I mean it." She didn't say anything else though as she dragged me away from the safe wall we'd been standing by onto the dance floor. "Al, I told you I can't dance."

She sighed patiently as she took my hands in hers then spun into my arms so that her back was up against my chest as she swayed. "It's easy…just feel the rhythm of the music." She leaned her head back on my shoulder as she closed her eyes a small smile playing across her face. She didn't seem to care that while everyone else was acting normal, we were the only ones slow dancing.

"Al…"

"Hmm." It was more of a sigh then a response.

"I don't get you."

"Me neither." I watched her curiously as she suddenly moved away from me. "I'm sorry…I…I'll be right back."

* * *

****

HYDRA

I ran from the school gym and found the girl's bathroom. I suddenly felt like the world was spinning outta control on me and there wasn't anything to make it stop. I gripped the edge of the sink and for a moment swore that I was going to toss my cookies. ~_What just happened? I was just fine a moment ago and then…I got real sick feeling.~_ I turned on the sink and jumped back in surprise as the water refused to fall down but rather shot into the air.

I quickly shut the water back off and started rubbing my temples trying to concentrate so that the water would just go down the drain like it should. I looked back at the sink and frowned as ev'rything appeared normal when I reopened my eyes. ~_What brought that on?~_ I sank down along the wall still rubbing my temples as I tried to sort things out.

Eventually my brain stopped spinning and I felt like I wasn't going to blow up a punch bowl or anything if I happened to pass one so I went back into the dance. "Al, where've you been? I've searched for you all night and Sam said you just up and left…"

"I felt kinda sick, Rose." I looked at my friend who seemed like she really had been worried sick for the past bit of time. "Sorry. Having fun?"

"Yeah, sure. Come on. Pete's being really goofy…you know how he can be soo naïve!" She took my hand and dragged me across the room to where Pete was talking to another guy from choir and Sam was sitting in a chair nearby only listening half-heartedly.

"The only reason you hit those high notes Pete, is because you haven't hit puberty yet." The other guy was poking fun at poor Pete and he was just to blind to see it.

"Thanks."

"It's not a complement." Pete cocked his head to the side out of confusion as I sat down next to Sam and tuned out the rest of the conversation.

"Sam…I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"Are you okay?"

"I dunno. If okay is practically blowing up a sink, then I'm doing great." He looked slightly scared when he looked up at me. "Really, Sam, I'm fine. I just had a head-ache or something."

"I hope that's all it was."

"Me too."

* * *

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door to the professor's office the next afternoon. "Come in, Allison."

"That can really freak a person out when you do that." I poked my head in through the door as he silently waved me in. "I was wondering if we could talk." I unconsciously tucked the blue streak of hair back behind my ear. I'd tried earlier in the day to die it, but it refused to change to any other color.

"Yes, I know."

"You know ev'rything, doncha."

"Not quite, but sit down." I did so and wrung my hands silently in my lap.

"Last night at the dance…ev'rything was going great and then I felt like my head was just going to explode."

"You remember how I explained that your powers are emotionally based." I nodded silently wondering where this conversation was going. "I believe that at the dam incident, you had an increase in power, and now you're powers look for an outlet every time that you feel a particular strong emotion."

"So I can't feel angry anymore without my powers going nuts?"

"Not just angry. I also believe and you've proven it, that you're much stronger when you're powers are backed by a good emotion rather than anger or fear. Last night, you were probably very happy and your powers were simply seeking an outlet for that emotion."

"So I can't be happy either?" ~_This is just great. I finally find a place and a person who makes me happy and not as ho hum as I used to be and now I can't be happy because if I am then I'm going to blow up like an overfilled water balloon!~_

"It will just require you to be careful that you don't become overly excited and that you don't become overly upset either. I wouldn't worry about it too much Allison."

"Easy for you to say." I stood up silently and walked to the door and sighed. "I'm sorry. That wasn't appropriate. I know you're only trying to help, but that's not exactly the news you want to hear." I gave him a half smile as I left.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

The more I got to know her the more I realized that she was as easy to read as a book. The secret was to know what each shade of color meant in her eyes. Ever since she got back her eyes hardly ever changed from a sheer brilliant shade of green. The only time they'd changed to that terrifying blue was right now during training session. 

"Come on Kicks. Don't you have anything else?" Al slumped back against the wall of the danger room completely exhausted from her one on one fight against Logan. She was doing pretty well except all she could do was avoid his attacks by melting or evaporating. She'd occasionally do so and attack his back before he turned again on her.

"Give it a rest already! I don't have a way of fighting back against you." We'd been watching this go on for about fifteen minutes but everyone was silently praying she'd keep it up for a good while then no one else would have to go.

"Well, you're not always going to have water lying around at your disposal, so you're going to need to learn to fight without it." He threw a punch at her but she was already gone and he growled as he connected with the metal wall.

She reappeared several feet behind him her hands held out in front of her. She had her eyes closed in concentration and it was impossible for us to figure out what she was trying to do. "Wrong, there's water ev'rywhere. You just gotta know where to look."

Logan turned to watch her but didn't move. He was just as interested as us to see what she was trying. "Stop wasting my time already."

"I'm not wasting time!" She opened her eyes and they flashed that eerie blue causing Logan to back up a step uncertainly. Slowly a ball of water began to form and hover between her hands.

"Is that it?" She stared down at her hands and her eyes faded in disappointment.

She clapped her hands and the drops of water flew. "Shit. Why didn't that work?"

"Look, pushing yourself isn't going to do any good."

"I shoulda been able to do that!" She didn't even seem to notice Logan and had completely forgotten that she was in a training fight as she tried again.

If anything this was even more of a failure as only a few drops hovered and spun around between her hands. "Kicks…"

"I should be able to do this! Why can't I?!?!"

"You might not be ready yet. Look, take a seat and let someone else get their training done." She looked up suddenly remembering the purpose of being in the Danger Room and sat down along the wall slightly separated from the rest of us. "Jubilee you're next."

"What?!?! Oh, no…there's no way I'm fighting you!"

Logan let out a low growl and she quickly jumped to her feet and hurried forward as if hoping that would lessen his intensity in the fight.

* * *

Being half way through October, there weren't to many more warm days ahead. It happened to be nice one Saturday so I was just sitting outside thinking. ~_I still don't understand what happened at the dance. Why'd she get a headache? She seemed all right moments before then bam! she's practically running away…~_

"Sam?" I looked up to see Al as she stepped down off the steps from the ballroom balcony. "A penny for your thoughts, hon."

"I was just thinking."

"I guessed that much. You wanna tell me what about?" She sat down next to me in the grass and stared up at the sky as she tucked her knees up beneath her chin.

"Not really."

"Okay. You know I'll listen whenever." I nodded and looked up as well. "It must be awesome being able to fly."

"It's okay, I guess. You would know."

"No, I don't. When I turn into vapor I have to concentrate extremely hard just to see. That's why I was so tired after that fight with Juggernaut…" She trailed off slightly after bringing up the fight that had ended so disastrously. "I don't know what it's like to move or anything with only the clouds beneath me. It must be really cool and free." I shrugged. I'd always taken it for granted and never really took in what it felt like to fly, just knew that I could do it. "Well, I guess I do kinda. You took me twice, but…" She was still staring up at the sky as I stood up.

I offered her a hand up and she took it questioningly. I turned my back to her and motioned for her to get on like a piggyback ride. "What are you doing?"

"You wanna know what it's like to fly? I'll take you." I turned back to see her watching me incredulously.

"You won't be able to pick me up. I'll hurt you."

"I can play basketball with Bobby on my back, I think I can handle you."

She shook her head stubbornly. "I'm taller and bigger than Bobby." In response I rolled my eyes and she glared as she finally gave in and climbed on. I smiled as she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her chin on my shoulder. "Back breaking yet?"

"Not even close. Hold on." She let out a small gasp of joy as we shot into the air. I was grateful she wasn't a squealer like the other girls or my eardrums probably wouldn't have survived.

We ended up coming back down on the cliff where we'd talked before. Before it had been the end of summer and everything was warm and green. Now it was showing the signs of autumn going into winter as the leaves blew off the trees and fell around us. 

"I could never get tired of that." She was grinning as she looked back at the institute. "I think only one thing could make me happier."

"What's that?" She turned still smiling as she took hold of my jacket collars. She gently pulled me towards her and kissed me.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I had no clue what came over me but suddenly ev'rything went off in my head as if Jubilee had just shot off a bunch of fireworks in my brain. At first I could feel his uncertainty about the situation I'd just put him in but he slowly kissed back sending me to cloud nine. It wasn't my first kiss, but it was certainly the first one that meant something.

It was kinda corny but I felt like I was in one of those old movies. My leg popped up as I leaned into the kiss even more as it deepened. Like I said--corny.

I slowly pulled back as I gasped silently for air. "Wow." I reopened my eyes and looked at him and he still looked shocked as he too opened his eyes.

"It's raining." I looked about me to see he was sorta right. The raindrops fell for a few seconds then stopped only leaving the area directly around us wet. "What happened?" He looked confused as he looked all around for an explanation to the strange weather.

"I think that was me." I almost grinned realizing that I'd finally been able to pull water outta the air like I'd been trying to for a while now.

"Since when did you become a weather witch?" He looked back at me smiling, the surprise ebbing away.

"Since now." I kissed him again as I put an arm around his neck pulling him in closer. His hands slowly moved to my waist and one cautiously rubbed the small of my back. I let my other hand run through his now soaked hair as the rain began falling on us once again. I felt like someone had just set off a hundred m-80s in my head as the rain began to fall harder and faster.

When we finally broke apart he was only staring into my eyes as the rain continued to fall. "I don't get it. You tried a while back and it didn't work." I rested my head on his shoulder as I closed my eyes again gently hugging his waist.

"I know, I was angry when I tried before. The professor says I'm a lot stronger when I'm happy. You know that whole good over bad karma thing." The rain slowed and stopped as we stood there and I smiled in my small victory. "And I'm happiest when I'm with you." He squeezed me tightly around the shoulders as I sighed contentedly. 

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

YEAH! They kissed for real. Bout time if you ask me. He he. 

Okay, I remember another reason for changing my name, I write a bunch of other stuff that's original and they seem to revolve around CIA and that kind of stuff. So yeah, that's most of the reason for the change.


	22. Halloween

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

Kitty seemed to be really into the whole party throwing deal. Of course she wasn't going to let a holiday like Halloween slip by without a bash. I was simply going to go and dance, I hadn't actually dressed up for Halloween since about fifth grade and wasn't going to go and ruin a streak like that but as usual, Kitty had other plans in mind for me. She showed up that afternoon with a dress box and a shoe box balanced on top.

"What's that?"

"Like your costume, duh."

"No, I don't have a costume."

"Well, like you do now. Ororo resized this dress for you and I like went around borrowing stuff so you could like be Poseidon for the night."

"Poseidon was a male god, Kitty."

"He was?" I nodded slowly as curiosity got the best of me and I took a peak at the dress box. I pulled out a long flowing ocean blue prom dress. "Jean said she didn't want it anymore, so I asked Ororo to make some alterations and it should like fit perfectly."

"Kitty, this it to much. She must have had to take out almost three inches."

"No like these shoes are to much. Like you totally have to check them out. They're Miss Frost's but she's the only one here who has feet anywhere close to your size. And it was four inches, but who's counting?" I shot Kitty an indignant glare for the last comment as I opened the shoebox to reveal a pair of glass dress shoes. The definitely went with Miss Frost's white streak but would go nicely with the blue dress as well. "I also borrowed these from Jubilee and that'll be just perfect. You'll totally look like a water goddess." She held up a set of earrings and necklace that were tear drop shaped crystals.

"Kitty there is no water goddess and I don't have my ears pierced…see, the costume's not going to work."

"What about a water nymph, luv?" I groaned. Betsy always showed up just in time to save Kitty's crazy ideas.

"Like that's perfect!" I found myself being pushed into the bathroom to change. ~_This is going just like the Sadie Hopkins Dance. Okay, we'll hope for a better ending this time.~_ When I came back out wearing the dress I sighed. Kitty had already armed herself with the earrings and was waiting already in her costume.

"What are you supposed to be?" I eyed her costume curiously as she was dressed in a white leotard and had white ears and a long tail.

"The Playboy Kitty." ~_Oh brother.~_ "Now sit down and lets get these in."

"I don't have my ears pierced. Remember?"

"They will be." My eyes went wide with shock and I then quickly squeezed 'em shut waiting expectantly for the pain. When I reopened 'em there was a dull throbbing pain in my ears that was quickly going away. "Like the easiest way to pierce ears. Phase the earrings in." She was grinning widely as I looked into the mirror. She'd indeed pierced my ears and the earrings were hanging down just right.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"I can't believe you let Jubilee talk you into that."

"Just shut up man." I was having a tough time not rolling on the floor laughing at Bobby's costume. "Holy shit." I looked up to see what his deal was and found my jaw dropping. Allison walked into the ballroom like she owned it wearing a formal gown and dressed to a tee.

"Hey y'all." She smiled at me then gently placed finger beneath my chin and shut my mouth for me. "Watch it, you'll catch flies that way, hon."

"What are you?" She shot Bobby a small grin.

"We're leaning towards water nymph, but according to Kitty I'm a male god." I glanced at her sideways at the last comment. "Long story. What I'd like to know is who are you guys supposed to be?"

"Bobby's Justin Timberlake." Al choked back a laugh when she caught Bobby's glare.

"And you?"

"Mick Jagger."

"Like in Aerosmith?" I nodded.

"I can see it. You look more like Mick then he does Justin. So what possessed you to dress like Timberlake?"

Bobby nodded towards Jubes and the other girls who were entering now. She was dressed up like Christina Aguleira. Al couldn't hold back any more and just busted up laughing. Kitty came bouncing over dragging Piotr behind her. It had been Jamie's idea for his costume as he was now the tin man from the _Wizard of Oz_. Kitty was some kind of cat, which wasn't too surprising.

"I like totally love your costumes! Mick Jagger and Clay Aiken right?"

"No, I'm Justin Timberlake."

Kitty giggled but quickly stopped herself. "Right, I like totally see it now."

"No, you don't. Stop lying, Kitty." Allison teased her as Bobby, her and Piotr left. "I think you're a lot cuter than Mick Jagger anyways. He's all old and wrinkly." She grabbed my cheek and pinched it in a grandmotherly fashion then gently kissed it causing me to blush. "Goon."

"Skitz."

"Worry-wort."

"Gorgeous."

"Oh that's a real insult. Let me tell you…" I grinned sheepishly as she had her fun. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"You gonna blush if I kiss you again?"

"You gonna rain on Kitty's parade?"

"Good point." She frowned as she bit her bottom lip and looked away. I mentally kicked myself for saying something like that. "Check out some of the others…"

I followed her gaze to see that just about everyone else had shown up. Jamie was dressed up like a flying monkey and was pestering Piotr who just didn't understand. Sarah stood back slightly embarrassed of her friend in a princess costume. Amara was dressed up like a magician, Rhane was filling in as her lovely assistant. Betsy looked like an Indian princess with a turban wrapped around her purple hair. Rogue was a temptress and Remy was what else--the devil himself. Daniele was wearing what looked like real Native American clothing. Jean and Scott were who knows what. They were just dressed in a tux and formal gown. My guess was they were just reusing their prom stuff. Ray and Roberto had gotten into the music stuff as well with Tabitha and they were Gwen Stefani and No Doubt. Kurt came in last with Amanda who'd been given a special invite. He'd talked Beast into messing with his inducer some to make him half normal looking, half blue in his own twisted rendition of Two Face. Amanda was dressed as Bat Girl to go along with him.

"I'm sorry…you first…no you…" We'd both spoken at the same time and finally we both gave up in a fit of laughing.

"God, we've been spending too much time together. Come on, I've still got work to do on your dancing skills." She took my hand and I reluctantly let her lead me out onto the dance floor.

"This is a hopeless cause."

"I like a good challenge." She smiled as her eyes returned to a brighter shade of green. She wrapped her arms around my neck as a slower song came on. "You've got slow dancing down."

"Yeah, it's the rest that've got me puzzled."

"And yet, I still love you, despite your li'l flaws." She then quickly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Al…" She remained tense for several more moments before she moved again.

"I'm sorry…it's just…" She let out a sigh that almost sounded painful. "Ev'rytime I get excited or feel really happy about something, I've got to worry that my powers are going to get outta hand." I brushed back the blue streak that hung by the side of her face. I couldn't help but worry over her, it seemed like every time I got close to her she was yanked back for some reason or another.

"It'll be okay. You'll figure it out…we'll figure it out."

"You're always saying stuff like that." She looked disheartened as she stood there. ~_Why her? Why's she gotta struggle so much?~_ "It's hard for me to believe that anyone can do anything. Not even the professor seemed to have any advice other than to avoid a situation that'll cause me to get anxious or excited. What am I supposed to do? Stay away from the one person who really makes me happy?"

* * *

****

HYDRA

I let the questions hang there as I turned and walked away. I could feel myself hitting a low and if I knew myself that would prolly lead to problems with my powers. I stepped outside onto the balcony and stared up at the moonlit sky wondering why ev'ry time I got close to Sam, I felt like I was ready to explode on an emotional level.

I gently rubbed my temples hoping the throbbing would go away. The only solution I could see for my problem was to become a person completely void of all emotion. I could control my powers for the most part when I was feeling okay, it was just when I got to one end of the line or the other that they went outta wack. ~_I've gotta get this under control or I'm going to really screw things up.~_ I leaned against the railing as I stared out over the bay at the reflecting stars and city lights from Bayville.

I practically jumped at the hand on my shoulder as I whirled around to see Sam standing there looking slightly hurt and confused. "God, you scared me."

"Look, I don't know what to tell you…"

"I know, nobody does. I don't really expect you to have answers…I was just thinking out loud." There was no change in expression as he stood there his hand still resting on my shoulder. I stared at the ground between us wondering why relationships had to be so gosh darn difficult.

"I'm sorry. It's just when I feel like a headache or something's coming on I just need to step back and let it pass or else something might happen."

I could feel him tilting my chin up forcing me to look him in the eyes but it was too painful for me to do and I squeezed my eyes shut instead. "Look at me."

"I can't. I don't want that feeling to come back."

"What feeling?"

"The pain." I could tell that I wasn't making very much sense to him. It was just becoming painful for me to be around him knowing that I couldn't really be happy because if I was, then my control was as good as gone. I wanted control over my powers, and ev'ry time I looked at him that control simply slipped away. It simply hurt trying to pen up my powers when they were screaming to get loose.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, Sam, you're not hurting me!" I opened my eyes to look at him and the pain written across his face was practically more than I could take. ~_I've hurt him. Oh, I always knew I would. I shoulda never done this to him in the first place. I shouldn't have ever been so forward with him. I shouldn't have tried so hard to make him like me. He was better off being quiet and shy.~_ "Please don't think that. If anyone's hurting here it's you. I can't expect you to deal with me when I'm acting so weird." I turned away from him determined to try and make a point.

He quickly caught up with me as I headed down the steps to the grassy grounds. "Sam, don't follow me!"

"I'm not going to let you do something stupid."

"I'm not…so go back to the party!"

"Make me." I stopped spinning on my heel feeling the anger swelling up inside of me as he caught me by the shoulders. "Whatcha gonna do?"

I stood there contemplating the situation realizing I didn't really want to be alone, I just didn't want him to hurt because of me. "I don't know anymore." He gently pulled me into a hug and I squeezed him back around the shoulders forcing myself not to cry.

"I wasn't teasing when I said you were gorgeous earlier. You look beautiful."

"And you're such a suck up when you're afraid I'm going to hurt you."  
"You don't have it in you to hurt me, let alone a fly." I hit him softly in the shoulder as a warning shot but he ignored it as he squeezed me tighter. He loosened the hug slightly as he placed his hand beneath my chin tilting my head up again. "Does it really hurt when we kiss?"

"No, it feels like the Fourth of July."

"Good, 'cause I never want to hurt you." He leaned down and kissed me gently with his hand resting on my cheek. I leaned into his hand as the kiss deepened. I could just barely feel the drops falling down on us the longer we stood there. I placed my own hand over his and pulled it down away from my face.

"No. Please stop." He stepped back surprised. The drops stopped falling immediately as I tried to clear my head. I could feel the headache returning from abruptly stopping my powers. "I can't let myself get outta control."

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I'd never been so confused in my entire life. ~_Maybe I wasn't so far off when I called her a skitz.~_ "Al…"

"Don't…please just go." She looked up at me pleadingly as I stood there uncertain of what to do. She almost looked like she was scared of me.

"Al, I'm not going to leave you. Come back inside with everyone else."

"I can't." She looked away from me and slowly started walking towards the bay as I ran to catch up.

"Where are you going?"

"I dunno. I just can't handle this. I can't take not being able to feel anything."

"Why can't you? It won't hurt anyone if you lose control every now and then."

"You're wrong Sam. I _could _hurt someone."

"With water?" She stopped near a low brick wall near Ororo's gardens and turned back to look at me.

Her voice was cold and emotionless, completely void of feeling and her eyes were a vacant gray color. "Not with water, but by taking it. What's the worse thing Magneto could do to a person?"

"Suck the iron straight from their blood." I had no clue what Magneto had to do with anything.

"I could, if I got really angry, do the same thing, just not with iron. Think of it as instant mummification. Gone is the seventy percent of your body that's made up of water, just like that." She snapped her fingers and it sounded eerie on Halloween. "The other day, I had to walk away from that fight with Logan 'cause I was scared I might kill him. I couldn't even sit with you guys because I was afraid I'd take my anger out on someone else instead."

"Al, you wouldn't do that."

"I could though, if I wasn't careful. I've got to learn to be careful like Scott and Rogue, even Storm."

"What do they have to do with anything?" She had turned her back to me again as she stood there staring out over the bay. I cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder but she didn't react at all. "You've really thought this through haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you've thought hard enough to make sure you'll never do something like that."

"Stop it."

"What?"

"Trying to make me feel better. I can't do that…I can't let myself feel anything." Her voice was starting to crack as she spoke and she slowly turned to face me. "Maybe this is a bad idea."

"What is?"

"Us. I'm never going to be able to be truly happy. It doesn't matter how great of a person you are Sam."

"I don't believe that for a moment. You said you were only worried about what would happen if you got angry. It's not that horrible for it to rain, you know."

"You're too damn optimistic." I could tell she was definitely faltering now but still the grayness and lack of anything I'd seen was definitely more frightening then when she was most angry.

"So sue me if the glass is half-full." She smiled faintly as I held her by her shoulders. She was swaying slightly unsteady on her feet and I was worried that the headache she'd mentioned earlier was a lot worse than she'd led me to think.

"You mind if I do something to release the pressure in my head?" I looked down at her confused at first as she kissed me. I was beyond the point of caring if I got wet anymore when I was around Al. I was almost to the point where I hoped I would get wet because that meant something had made her really happy. 

* * *

****

HYDRA

I stepped back giving him a weak smile. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Sam."

"I'm not exactly sure what I'd do without you either."

"You'd be warm and dry, that's for sure." I laughed lightly as he took my hand and his and squeezed it gently.

"Doesn't matter." He leaned down and kissed me again holding my head gently in his hands. I smiled into the kiss as I placed my hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him down so he was sitting on the wall. I sat down in his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck as his hands moved to encircle my waist.

"I'm sorry. I've been acting so strange lately…"

"Like I said before, it doesn't matter, Al." I stared into his blue eyes wondering what I'd done to deserve some one as sweet as him as I rested my head on his shoulder. "All that matters to me, is that you're happy." I sighed contentedly as I continued to snuggle into his shoulder.

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry, I've been suber busy. God, could someone strike my work with a lightning bolt so I can take some time off? I was aiming that at you in particular, God.

****

Qwerty: Nope, not flirting. Just being goofy little me. *Author bobs head up and down repeating 'Find a happy place… Find a happy place… Find a happy place…'

****

Pomegranate Queen: An honorable mention of everyone's favorite temptress.

****

Nie Starwhistler: I hope you feel better soon.

****

GiveGodglory: Slightly buggy? She's psychotic, dude!


	23. Going Home

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

* What do you mean you won't be home over Christmas! *

* Sweetie, I've already told you, I have a very important business conference I need to go to in Harrisburg. I'll be back the twenty-seventh and we'll spend the rest of the break together. * ~_How could she do this to me?~_

* But it's Christmas! *

* And I'll see that you get your presents at the institute. *

* Mom…this isn't about gifts. It's about how we're a family and we're supposed to spend the holiday together. *

* I know sweetie, and I'd like nothing more than to spend Christmas with you but I need you to stay at the institute where it's safe. *

* What's that supposed to mean? * I suddenly had a feeling that this conversation had taken a very sudden twist into the twilight zone.

* I don't want you staying here by yourself. That's why I'm asking you to stay at the institute until after Christmas. It'll only be for a few days. *

* Is this about my father?!?! I can take care of myself. Besides there's a restraining order… *

* You weren't able to take care of yourself before. * Her voice had taken on a steely edge suddenly. 

* I'll be fine! Please don't make me stay here for Christmas. There's not going to be anybody here but a couple of the adults and that'll be really boring. *

* I'm sorry sweetie. Maybe one of your friends'll let you stay with them for a few days. *

* Yeah, maybe. *

* We'll talk later, okay? *

* Yeah sure. Bye. *

* Love you. *

* Uh huh. * I hung up the phone without returning the sentiment and walked down the hall dejectedly. ~_This bites.~_

"Why so glum?" I looked up half-surprised to see Sam standing there and gave him a weak smile.

"My mom wants me to stay here over part of Christmas break. She says I can come down the twenty-seventh, but until then I'm stuck here."

"Oh."

"Hey no need for you to get down about it too." I put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up grinning.

"I know, you can come stay with my family."

"What? I dunno. That doesn't seem quite fair to your folks." He'd never talked about his family before and I wasn't quite sure I wanted a total shock for Christmas. We walked side by side down the rest of the hall.

"My mom probably won't mind. I'm one of nine brothers and sisters, so what's one more person."

"Nine! Sam she's not gonna want a tenth person running around."

"What's the big difference between nine and ten?" He didn't seem to see a problem there.

"I dunno. The fact that it's one extra body that'll need fed, a bed, and all that."

"I honestly don't think she'll mind. She's really nice and she's constantly bugging me as to why I don't bring Bobby or Ray down."

"That's a li'l different, hon."

"How?"  
"They're guys--I'm a girl. A _girl_friend."

"You're still my friend." I sighed at his logic.

"I'd really like to spend time with my family too."

"So we'll go visit yours once your mom gets back. Unless you don't want your mother to see me again for some reason."

"Trust me, it's your ribs that'll break, not mine." I grinned remembering the series of bone crunching hugs that she'd given Sam as she proclaimed him a hero. "Eight siblings, huh?" I was still kinda in shock. In the Cove, families were normally big with three or four siblings, but eight!

"Yeah, there's Joshua, Paige, Joelle, Elisabeth, Jeb, Annabelle, and the twins Lewis and Lori." He counted 'em off on his fingers making sure he got 'em all.

"And where do you fall in the line up?"

"I'm the oldest." I nodded trying to let all those names sink in.

"So what are they like?" ~_Guess I should find out something about 'em so I can get gifts.~_

"Josh is a year younger than me and into music, plays guitar. Um, Paige if fourteen and I dunno is your average teenage girl. Joelle is 12 and pretty popular. Elisabeth is 11 and really outgoing. Jeb is 9 and your regular geek with glasses. Annabelle is kinda quiet too and eight. The twins are double trouble and six."

We stopped walking as we reached the end. "That's a lotta brothers and sisters."

"You get used to 'em all running around after a while."

"I guess I will." I smiled at him for a brief moment before I forced myself to knock it off. ~_I can't. I can't kiss him. At least not at this moment, while we're inside.~_ "I promised I'd meet Sara at the mall. See you later." I waved as I turned and went down another hall.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

Hearing her say it seemed to make it official. ~_We're a couple.~_ It hit me almost like a ton of bricks and I couldn't help but smile as she left and decided to really make sure it was okay to bring a friend home for Christmas. Lord only knew how Mom would react. She could go from ecstatic to upset.

* Hello? *

* Hey Momma. *

* Sammy! Are you coming home for Christmas dear? *

* Of course. I was wondering if I could bring a friend, Al. *

* I don't see why not. *

* Thanks, Momma. *

* When are you getting home? *

* We'll be there the twenty-third. But we're gonna go to Al's place then on the twenty-seventh. *

* Your brothers and sisters'll be glad to see you. *

* I'll be glad to see everyone too. *

* I love you, dear. *

* Love you too, Momma. * I hung up the phone and would have jumped for joy if Ray and Roberto wouldn't have been there watching.

"_Love you too, momma._" Ray snickered at his falsetto impression. "What a momma's boy."

"Knock it off, Ray." I walked over to the couch and sat down near 'em on the floor to watch 'em play PS2.

"You're taking Al with you?"

"She needed a place to go."

"It's called her home, you dip."

"Her mom's outta town. She needed a place to crash."

"That and she's your _girlfriend_."

"At least I've got one." That seemed to shut the two of 'em up good as they went back to their game. "I play winner."

"That'll be me," Ray said smugly as Roberto spared a hand to punch him.

"Get over yourself."

* * *

****

HYDRA

"Hey Spanky!" I looked around quickly and saw Sara coming down the mall towards me. She already had a shopping bag in hand.

"You started without me." I gave her a pout and she laughed.

"Sorry these shoes were just screaming out to me. And I also had to get your gift…"

"Oh, lemme see!"

"Yeah right, you can wait. So where to first?"

"I haven't a clue! I'm going to see Sam's family over Christmas and I should prolly take gifts but I dunno what to get."

"Well how big's his family?"

"He's got his mom, three brothers and five sisters."

"What?!?!"

"That's what I thought." We started walking down the mall and I looked into the different store windows. We passed the music store and I stopped. "His one brother plays guitar."

"So?" I grabbed her arm and dragged her inside as I looked through all the accessories. I decided to get some different picks including a steel one, a set of strings, and a music book.

Several hours later we finished shopping and I'd gotten matching hoodies for the twins, make up for Paige, Joelle, and Elisabeth, and books for Jeb and Annabelle. I'd also gotten a lot of other stuff for the students at the institute. Somehow I'd sneaked in buying a gift for Sara and had gotten her a CD from Linkin Park, her favorite band.

Needless to say I was excited about the idea of meeting Sam's family. I'd prolly find the idea nerve racking the entire drive up there but it would prove interesting.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

"Al, do you really need all this stuff? We're talking about a li'l over a week total!" She ignored me as she continued filling up the bed of her truck with packages and other items.

"I'm sorry if I want to make a good impression with your family. I feel like I'm an intruder or something." She looked at me and frowned. "Feel free to disagree."

"We've got a ten hour drive, I'll think of something." (A/N: that's from Footloose)

"Gee thanks. You've got nearly twice the stuff I do."

"Yeah, but it's _my_ family." She stuck her tongue out at me as she pulled the tarp across and crossed to the driver's side. Everyone else had left an hour earlier for the airport for destinations known.

She started the truck which was now a ocean blue color and just to irritate her further I decided to sing along with the radio. "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know…"

"It's a long walk to Kentucky, hon."

"It's pretty boring hanging with the adults for a week."

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"Keep trying me."

* * *

Ten hours later and late in the afternoon I directed her up the drive to park in front of a modest ranch house. She stepped out and looked around in awe at the fields and barn that sat around the house. "It's beautiful up here. It's even more out there than where I live."

"Is that a good thing?" I raised an eyebrow curiously as she pulled back the tarp to get her duffel bag.

"Uh huh. Back home, it's spread out but there's still enough people crammed together that ev'ryone knows ev'ryone else's business."

"You'll find that here too." She laughed nervously as she slung her bag over her shoulder and continued to look around. The ground was covered with patches of snow that was slowly melting away. "So much for a white Christmas."

"So where is ev'ryone? It's hard to believe there's nine people here and not a sign of life." I led her up the front steps and cautiously opened the front door.

"Anyone home?" Kids came flying from all directions at once.

"Sammy!"

"Sam!"

"Did y' bring presents?"

"How long y' stayin'?"

Al stood back in the doorway gaping slightly at the scene as most of my younger siblings came flying at me in a group hug. I laughed as I tried answering their questions. "Yes, a while, and you guys need to let me breathe." I looked up to see Paige laughing from the stairs as she came down and gave me a hug too.

"I'm glad you're home Sam."

"Me too. Where's Momma?"

* * *

****

HYDRA

I leaned against the doorframe in wonderment as I watched the family reunion. It didn't seem quite right to interrupt. I watched as a pretty blonde girl took Sam into a fierce hug and figured she must be Paige. The younger siblings were still watching Sam with wonderment as if expecting gifts to come pouring outta his pockets. I quickly picked out Jeb who was geeky looking and had reddish brown hair. I spotted the twins next who were definitely the youngest and had blonde hair like Sam. The next to youngest had long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and musta been Annabelle. I took a guess that Elisabeth was the other blonde girl and that Joelle was the last brunette. However I saw no hide nor hair of Josh.

"Momma!" I watched as Sam rushed over to a woman who was close to my mom's age and had long brown hair and wore a flannel shirt. She pulled Sam into a hug and kissed each of his cheeks lovingly and the other siblings turned their attention to me.

"Who are you?"

"Hi, I'm Joelle."

"Where are you from?"

"You're pretty." I felt my cheeks flush at the youngest boy's comment.

"Are you Sam's girlfriend?" I definitely blushed at Paige's question and could only nod.

"I'm Allison…I go to school with Sam." There was a slight frown from Joelle and I just barely caught it.

"Hi Ally!" The littlest girl, Lori, ran over and hugged me around the waist being that's as far up as she could reach. I picked her up and squeezed her back.

"Hello Lori." She giggled as I set her back down amongst her siblings. She started whispering with Annabelle and they both started giggling.

I nervously tucked my blue streak back behind my ear as I stood amongst all of 'em and Sam brought his mother over. "Momma, this is Al. Al, this is my mom." I held my hand to shake hers and she dragged me into a hug.

"Regular city girl. There ain't any shakin' in this house." I could feel my cheeks burning at all this attention. "It's nice t' meet y', dear." I stepped back biting my bottom lip, slightly embarrassed still of all the attention. "Paige, show her up t' yo' room."

Paige gently took me by the arm and led me up the stairs excitedly. Once outta ear shot of the others and in her room she started talking. "Yo' special like Sam, right?"

"Um, well…"

"Oh this is so cool…tell meh ev'rythin'!"

"There isn't much to tell." I set my stuff down on the floor and she was watching me expectantly as if expecting me to burst into flames or something.

"Sure there is. What are yo' powers?"

"Well, I um…can control water." Her eyes got wide as I stood there nervously shuffling my feet.

"Wow! that's really neat. What's it like livin' there?"

"Crowded. You're constantly bumping into somebody."

"Sounds like here. I wish I could go to school there too." I looked at her surprised.

"No you don't, it's dangerous. I mean we do some good stuff, but it's really dangerous."

"I don't care, I just wish I could do cool things too." ~_If she only knew how big of a pain in the ass it really is, she wouldn't feel that way anymore.~_

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

I found Josh outside in the barn feeding the horses. "Hey man."

"Hey yo'self." I groaned inwardly. Josh had never acted like this before I'd gone to the institute.

"How's the family been doing?"

"You'd know if y' were here an' not hangin' with yo' freak friends." There was a hint of an edge to his voice and I came to a stop standing next to him as he poured the feed out into the bins.

"I'd like to be, Josh."

"Sure, that's why y' left f' N' York."

"I can't help it if that's how far away the school is."

"Y' could try an' act normal an' stay here with us." He dropped the pail and was standing facing me. I gritted my teeth to keep from getting angry with him.

"I can't act like something I'm not."

"Yeah, right. Y' sound like a city slicker. Y' prolly go back there an' talk about how shitty farm life is."

"No, I don't."

"Just get outta my face." He stormed away from me as I slumped back against the gate to the stable.

Thunder, the farm's workhorse, stuck his head out and bumped it up against the back of mine. "Bet he's nicer to you." There was a snort of agreement as I sighed.

* * *

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry, it's been like forever. Well, at least over a month…the only reason I know that is because last week was my boyfriend and I's one month anniversary and I haven't posted since before we started dating. Okay, that was tons of useless information…yeah…that and now the musical I was in is over and I have more time to write. My writer's block also ended, so yeah!


	24. Christmas Eve

FYI:

~_Personal Thoughts~_

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

* * *

****

HYDRA

Although she was three years my junior, Paige was fun to be around. She was as Sam said, your average teenage girl and had her share of magazines to flip through. It was almost like spending time with Kitty.

She pointed towards a picture of a hairstyle and grimaced. "Do people actually do that t' their hair?"

"You bet." I laughed as I recognized Shania Twain who had her hair standing on end.

"People would think Ah'd gone nuts." I nodded in agreement and was surprised she didn't ask why I'd gone to the extremity of dying my hair if I thought that hair-do was strange.

I practically jumped when I felt hands placed on my shoulders. I slowly leaned my head back to see Sam leaning over me. I could feel my cheeks reddening as I realized just how close my head was to his…

"Hey Sam."

"Time for bed." Paige pouted.

"Sam, Ah'm fourteen! Ah'm not like the others who are gonna try an' sneak downstairs t' look at the presents."

"Y' know the rules." I giggled forgetting the position I was in.

"You're talking with an accent."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Ah am not." I laughed as he did it again and he reddened realizing he'd just lost. "Look, Ah'll see y' two in the mornin'." I couldn't help but smile at the fact that it had taken him just a li'l over a day to get his accent back. I wondered how long he'd keep it once we went back to the institute--it was cute. He kissed the top of my head and left leaving Paige still pouting.

"This is stupid."

"Why's it a rule?"

"'Cause all the younger ones, they all try an' sneak downstairs so Momma has an early curfew for Christmas Eve." I nodded as I slowly pulled on my flannel pajamas and climbed into the top of the bunk bed. ~_Christmas certainly is different when there's more than just two people.~_

I laid in bed for prolly two hours before I gave up the fight. I could hear Paige already snoring softly as I crept down and touched down on the floor gently. I headed down the stairs and had to keep from laughing when I saw someone sitting on the couch in front of the Christmas tree half asleep with a Santa hat perched on his head. "Well if it isn't Santa." Sam turned around and grinned sleepily at me. "You guarding the tree?"

"Y' could say that." I leaned over the back of the couch at his shoulder and sighed. "What are y' doin' up?"

"Can't sleep and thought I'd get a glass of water. Don't know how you guys do this early to bed thing." 

"Here." He handed me the glass of milk that his mother had set out earlier with a plate of cookies for 'Santa'.

So these really aren't for Santa, they're to keep you up." He laughed lightly. "What about you? Why are you still up?"

"Ah've been doing this since Ah was eleven. Someone's gotta play Santa an' keep the youngest ones from tryin' t' get down here in the middle of the night."

"You're kidding. They're all fast asleep."

"So y' think. Ah'm guessing at least four of 'em'll be down here." I walked around the couch and set the glass back down and sat down in his lap. "What are y' doin'?"

"Making a wish on Santa's lap. People tend to give you weird looks if you try it at the malls." I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Santy, I'd like a new dolly…" I talked in a voice that was about an octave above my normal one giving me a childish sound. "…one that opens and shuts her eyes and a li'l courage for my boyfriend."

"Don' know 'bout that first wish, but consider the second one granted…" He leaned in and kissed me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

She pulled back suddenly with her eyes still squeezed shut and biting her lip. "Al…"

She reopened her eyes and sighed. "I'm really tired now. But I still want to give you your gift now." She stood up and got a large box from beneath the tree and handed it to me. "Go on, I'm really horrible at this waiting 'til Christmas morning stuff. I have horrible patience." She sat down next to me and watched expectantly as I tore the paper off and pulled out a new helmet to go with my dirt bike back at the institute.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you." She leaned over and kissed my cheek sighing as she rested her head on my shoulder and squeezing my arm like a small child would hug a stuffed animal. "Think I'll just sleep here if that's okay with you." She was out like a light before I could say otherwise, even though I wouldn't have.

It wasn't until she was asleep that it hit me that she'd been able to control her powers. It had taken a lot outta her, but she'd done it.

* * *

"Morning, Santa." My eyes snapped open and I blinked against the bright light streaming into the room. Al was sitting up next to me and smiling as I tried to shake the numbness outta my arm. I jerked the Santa's hat off my head sheepishly as I heard movement from upstairs. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She gave me a wink as she stood up and headed back up the stairs.

I shook my head and headed into the kitchen to help Momma with breakfast. Minutes later the kitchen was filled with eleven bodies total as everyone tried to eat as quickly as they could. I sat across from Al and she seemed to be slightly interested in something Lori was saying.

"Ah saw Santy last night!"

"Really?" Al took a bite of eggs as she tried to act surprised.

"Yeah, and you were kissing him!" She choked as everyone turned to stare at her. Momma, Paige and Josh all had known I'd sit up and were prolly more shocked then the rest. Momma turned to look from Al to me, Paige was in a fit of giggling and Josh looked sullen. I gulped slightly under Momma's look but she slowly smiled. "Sammy's upset now." Lori tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Al buried her reddening face into her hands and I was pretty sure that if we were at the institute she'd have just melted into the floor right then and there from embarrassment. But here, she was trying to play it low key. "Looks like Sam has some competition." I was surprised Paige could get anything out with as much as she was giggling. Lori just turned to watch everyone in awe. She was too young to understand fully what she'd just caused.

"Excuse me." Al stood up quickly and left the room. This caused everyone to grow quiet as the watched her retreat.

"Y' better follow her." I did as Momma said and quickly followed her outside. 

I found her inside the barn and she was patting the neck of Thunder. "Ah had no clue…"

"It's okay. That was just a li'l embarrassing. You're li'l sister seeing us." She turned smiling slightly as she stopped the slow patting. "I've also been thinking."

"About…" She took my hand and led me back towards the barn door.

"You were singing _White Christmas _when we left the institute." I nodded not seeing where she was going. "It's just a guess, but that's what you really want."

"It'd be nice, but 's not gonna happen, Al." I looked up at the cloudless sky but she didn't follow my gaze.

"Sorry, hon. But you're wrong there." I looked back down at her as she sighed. She pressed my hand in hers and squeezed her eyes shut in concentration. When she reopened 'em, it was snowing. "Merry Christmas, Sam."

I placed a hand on her cheek and had to refrain from yanking back from the cold. ~_How long have we been out here?~_ "Yo' freezin'."

"I'm okay."

"No yo' not. 'S not like we have Amara 'round t' warm y' back up."

"No, but I've got you." She leaned forward and kissed me. I placed my other hand on her waist and could feel her slowly warming back up the longer I held her. "If I told you, you had a hot body, would you hold it against me?"

"Thought that was the guy's line."

"You know me…always changing the rules." I pulled her into me and she rested her head on my chest. "This is the best Christmas ever." I slowly pulled out the box I had in my pocket. She took it and looked up at me wide-eyed then opened it. She let out a low gasp as she pulled out the simple silver chain bracelet and hugged me.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Ah guess y' like it."

"I love it." She pulled back and put it on before hugging me again. "But don't you tell anyone else that."

"Yeah, go figure, y' like jewelry." She placed a hand over my mouth and kissed me again.

"I take it back. _Now_ this is the best Christmas ever. Thank you."

"Now let's get y' inside where 's warm." She nodded and allowed me to take her back inside the house where everyone was already opening their gifts.

* * *

****

HYDRA

I offered to help Mrs. Guthrie clean up the next day while ev'ryone went their separate ways to do chores and found her silence to be unnerving after what had occurred at the day before at breakfast. "I'm sorry about last night."

"Why dear? Teenagers will be teenagers. Ah remember what it was like t' be young an' happy." I could feel myself blushing again as she smiled at me. "Who am Ah t' tell my son not t' be happy either?"

"Speaking of Sam, where is he?"

"Ah believe he went outside." She smiled after me as I grabbed a sweater and pulled it down over my head as I ran outside. I went to the barn first but didn't see him there but rather found the twins carrying a pail of seed together.

"Louis, Lori, have you seen Sam?" Both of 'em shook their heads and went back to their chore as I left. Although the snow was patchy I could see footprints heading off away from the usual path between the house and barn and heading up towards the forest. Out of curiosity I followed 'em, occasionally having to double back to find the trail again.

I sucked in my breath as I came across a small family cemetery with a lone figure standing there. "Hi Daddy. 'S Christmas 'gain. We all really miss y' an' wish y' were here." 

I stood there suddenly feeling extremely bad for interrupting. I took a step back to leave and tripped over a low gravestone and landed with an "Oomph." Sam turned and saw me lying there on my back as I tried to push myself back up. He crossed over to me and silently offered me a hand up and led me back to where he'd been standing.

I stared at the headstone in grave silence with Sam. Putting two and two together, I figured his dad's name was Thomas Zebulon Guthrie. 

It seemed kinda odd to me to be talking to dead people but there was no way I was gonna tell him that. "This is Al. She ain't got a dad, at least not a good one." I turned to watch Sam as he spoke. His voice was cracking with sadness but there was no reflection of it in his face with his stoic features. "Ah guess Ah'm lucky Ah got t' spend eleven years with y'. Ah feel bad the twins hardly had any." I couldn't tear my eyes off of him as I stood there in solemnity. I took his hand in my own and gently squeezed it in a reassuring way. He finally looked up from the grave and smiled at me.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I didn't mean to come up her and bother you." I looked down at my feet suddenly feeling even worse for my interruption.

"Yo' not a bother." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, gently rubbing my arm as we simply stood up there in comfortable silence.

After a few minutes he spoke again. "Come on, before y' get cold 'gain." I nodded as I allowed him to lead me back towards the house in silence. 

This trip had definitely let me see a different side to the person I'd grown so close to in the past few months.

* * *

****

CANNONBALL

We left early in the morning so that we could get to Pennsylvania before it got too late. They were calling for a blizzard around Al's hometown and we were going to try and out run it. Of course leaving home was a lot like coming home with everyone going for hugs and so forth.

Al was tapping the steering wheel agitatedly as we attempted to cross the Wilson bridge outside Washington D.C. Traffic was jammed up for miles and in the past hour we'd only moved a mile or two. "Didn' y' used t' live 'round here?"

"Uh huh."

"Where?"

"Oxen Hill. It's just off this bridge, if we ever get off." She was definitely irritated but I was getting bored with listening to the static on the radio. We were in one of those annoying areas where it doesn't matter what you listen to the radio doesn't work.

"We're right outside a major city an' the radio doesn' work."

"It's the curse."

"What?"

She sighed as if I shoulda known what she was talking about. "Look out the window. Do you see those three pretty big rocks out there in the Potomac?"

"Yeah, sure."

"They're supposedly all that's left of three Indian sisters who died trying to cross the river. Supposedly their curse messes with the radios as well as not allowing anybody to cross the Potomac here by boat."

"That's messed up."

"I know. When I was really little, a plane crashed right into this bridge."

"It really is cursed." She nodded as she finally shut the radio off in defeat and propped her elbow on the wheel and placed her head in her hand. "So what was it like livin' here?"

"It was pretty cool. My mom worked for the Senate and I met a whole bunch of politicians. I even knew Gore when he was Republican."

"Gore was Republican? I thought he was a Demorat." She frowned at my slander and I realized she must be Democratic. "Sorry."

"It's cool. I'm used to it by now. In the cove, ev'ryone's Republican except for my mom and I."

"What was school like?"

"Scary as hell." I raised an eyebrow at her comment.

"How scary can elementary school be?"

"When you're one of three white kids and most of the other kids have older siblings in gangs, it's scary. You didn't cross anyone for fear of what might happen to you. I remember there was this kid who always beat up on me but I didn't dare tell the teacher because he had an older brother who was a gang leader. It wouldn't have mattered if I had, 'cause the teacher woulda been too scared to do anything either."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's why I got to be so determined to not let anyone push me around once we moved. Besides, most kids in my new school in Pennsylvania thought I was a gangster. I called ev'ryone, hommie, brother, or sister for the longest time." I laughed trying to imagine Al sounding ghetto. "If that wasn't bad enough, I had an iron stomach. We went on a school field trip to D.C. and my teacher nearly geeked out when she caught me and another kid buying a hot dog from a street vendor. I ate it with no problem and the other kid was puking his guts out later on." She smiled at the memory. "On the same trip, I wheeled and dealed with one of those Foakley guys and got ev'ryone in my class a pair for a buck. I was the teacher's worse nightmare."

"Ah bet."

"But as weird as ev'ryone thought I was, they were even weirder to me. My gram tried to serve me shit and shingles and I nearly went ballistic. I didn't even know what riviled potatoes were." I smiled trying to imagine what it would be like not knowing all of a sudden what was going on anymore. "To make things worse, no one could manage a decent glass of sweet tea. I had to figure out a substitute on my own. And then, there was no grits or anything I was used to."

There was a resounding honk from behind us and she looked up and frowned. Traffic was moving steadily now and we'd been so wrapped up in our talk to notice. There were a few more honks and she rolled down her window, flashed the middle finger, rolled up the window, and started driving again. "People honestly need to get some patience." I was a li'l surprised to say the least as she picked up the speed to around seventy again. She turned to look at me. "What?"

"Y' jus' gave a complete stranger the middle finger…f' no reason."

"I had reason. It's the expected response to too much honking." I shook my head realizing she'd know what she was doing after all having lived here before.


End file.
